#^ 


(  PTMNCETOTSr.     N.     J.  "^ 


Shelf.. 


BR  162  .W78 

1881 

Wordsworth, 

Christopher , 

1807-1885. 

A  church  hi 

story  to  the 

Council  of 

Nic  a,  A.D. 

325 

A 

CHURCH    HISTORY 

TO  THE 

COUNCIL  OF  NIC^A, 

A.D.  325. 


LONDON : 
GILBERT   AND    RIVINGTON,    PRINTERS, 

ST.  John's  square. 


CHURCH    HISTORY 


TO   THE 


COUNCIL   OF  NIC^A 

A.D.  325 


/ 
CHR.^WORDSWORTH,    D.D. 


BISHOP  OF  LINCOLN 


He  went  forth  conquering  and  to  conqvier." — Rev.  vi.  2  ;  and  see  Rev.  xix.  11 — 17 


JAMES  POTT 
12,  ASTOR  PLACE,  NEW  YORK 

MDCCCLXXXl 

\All  rights  reserved.] 


PREFACE 


It  has  long  been  the  Author's  wish  to  offer  to  the 
rising  generation  a  view  of  the  History,  Doctrine, 
and  Discipline  of  the  Christian  Church  from  the  Day 
of  Pentecost  to  the  Council  of  Nic^a. 

This  desire  has  been  quickened  by  signs  of  the 
times  at  home  and  abroad. 

Many  things  seem  to  show  that  the  Church  ought 
to  be  preparing  herself  to  live,  as  it  were,  again  in  the 
Ante-Nicene  age. 

The  predictions  also  of  sacred  Prophecy,  which  has 
foretold  that  the  opposition,  with  which  the  Church 
had  to  contend  in  those  earlier  times  after  the  first 
Advent  of  Christ,  will  reproduce  itself,  with  more 
intensity,  in  the  latter  days,  before  His  Second  Coming, 
may  now  be  deemed  to  be  in  course  of  fulfilment. 

In  some  countries,  the  Christian  Church  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  State,  as  it  was  in  the  first  three 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era. 

In  other  parts  of  the  world,  the  temporal  Power 
is  withdrawing  its  support  from  the  Church  ;  and 
in  others,  it  is  arraying  itself  in  antagonism  to  it. 

These  two  latter  cases  differ  widely  from  the  former. 
In  the  former,  many  things  may  have  made  it  diffi- 
cult for  the  State  to  ally  itself  with  the  Church  ;  in 


vi  PREFACE. 

the  two  latter  that  Alliance,  which  may  have  existed 
for  many  centuries,  is  renounced  by  the  State. 

Great  and  manifold  are  the  evils,  which  may  be 
expected  to  arise  in  these  two  latter  cases  ;  evils  pro- 
portioned to-  the  benefits  which  Nations  have  never 
failed  to  enjoy  when  they  have  made  true  Religion 
the  basis  of  their  Civil  Polity. 

Whenever  States  have  proposed  to  themselves  the 
Divine  Law  as  the  rule  of  their  temporal  Legisla- 
tion, and  have  directed  their  public  acts  towards 
the  promotion  of  the  Divine  Glory,  and  to  the 
moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  their  people,  they  have 
generally  enjoyed  that  peace  and  prosperity,  which 
are  the  gifts  of  Him  Who  is  the  Ruler  of  Kingdoms, 
and  the  Arbiter  of  their  destinies.  They  have  been 
usually  blessed  with  Rulers  who  have  been  qualified 
to  govern  righteously,  and  with  subjects  who  have 
been  disposed  to  obey  those  who  are  set  in  authority 
over  them,  and  whom  they  have  regarded  as  Vicegerents 
and  Deputies  of  God. 

"  We  agree,"  said  Richard  Hooker  (when  he 
uttered  a  prophecy  which  was  fulfilled  about  fifty 
years  afterwards,  in  the  troubles  ^  of  the  seventeenth 
century),  '^that  pure  and  unstained  Religion  ought  to 
be  the  highest  of  all  cares  appertaining  to  public  re- 
gimen ;  as  well  in  regard  of  that  aid  and  protection 
which  they  who  faithfully  serve  God,  confess  that  they 
receive  at  His  merciful  hands  ;  as  also  for  the  force 
that  Religion  hath  to  qualify  all  sorts  of  men,  and  to 
make  them  in  public  affairs  the  more  serviceable  ; 
governors  the  apter  to  rule  with  conscience,  and  in- 
feriors for  conscience'  sake  the  willinger  to  obey."  - 

1  Hooker,  V,  Ixxix.  17. 

2  Ibid.  V.  i.  2. 


'PREFACE.  vii 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  little  can  be  the  hope  of 
the  Divine  favour,  and  consequently  of  public  hap- 
piness to  Nations,  if  they  imagine  that  they  can 
prosper  without  obedience  to  the  Divine  Will,  and 
without  regard  to  the  Divine  Glory ;  and  if  they 
subordinate  the  things  of  Eternity  to  the  concerns  of 
this  present  life  ;  and  if  they  descend  in  a  downward 
course  so  far  as  to  rob  God  of  His  own  property,  and 
to  sequester  and  secularize  what  has  been  solemnly 
dedicated  to  His  worship  and  honour,  and  to  the 
maintenance  and  advancement  of  the  spiritual  and 
eternal  welfare  of  His  people.^ 

Such  a  sacrilegious  policy  has  usually  received  its 
retribution  even  in  this  world. 

When  a  Nation  has  withdrawn  its  allegiance  from 
God,  He  rarely  fails  to  chasten  it  by  means  of  Rulers 
whose  aims  are  mainly  for  their  own  private  interest 
and  personal  aggrandizement  ;  and  by  means  of 
a  People  which  does  not  honour  and  obey  its 
Rulers  as  representatives  of  the  divine  authority,  and 
as  entitled  to  reverence  as  such,  but  which  considers 
itself  as  the  source  of  power,  and  regards  its  own  will 
as  the  measure  of  right,  and  proceeds  to  assert  that 
will  by  physical  force. 

And  when  such  maxims  as  these  have  had  due 
time  to  operate,  and  to  permeate  the  masses  of  a 
population,  by   means    of  systems    of   primary   and 

3  This  condition  of  things  is  described  by  the  same  author  thus  : 
"When  the  Kings  of  God's  ancient  people  (some  few  excepted),  to  better 
their  worldly  estate,  as  they  thought,  left  their  own  and  their  people's 
ghostly  condition  uncared  for,  then  by  woeful  experience  they  both  did 
learn  that  to  forsake  the  true  God  of  heaven  is  to  fall  into  all  such  evils 
as  men  either  destitute  of  divine  grace  may  commit,  or  unprotected  from 
above  may  endure.  .  .  .  We  have  therefore  reason  to  think  that  all  true 
virtues  are  to  honour  true  Religion  as  their  parent,  and  all  well-ordered 
commonwealths  to  love  her  as  their  chief  stay."    Ibid.  V.  i,  4  and  5. 


viii  PREFACE. 

secondary  Education,  which  stimulate  the  intellect,  but 
do  not  regulate  the  passions,  or  sanctify  the  will,  by 
the  teaching  of  Christian  Truth,  and  by  the  influence 
of  spiritual  grace,  then  a  generation  of  men  will 
arise,  wielding  a  tremendous  force,  impatient  of  con- 
trol, and  arraying  itself  against  whatever  claims  any 
prerogative,  privilege,  or  pre-eminence,  inconsistent 
with  the  predominance  of  popular  Supremacy. 

At  the  same  time,  while  this  process  of  upheaving 
is  going  on  in  the  masses  of  large  populations  in  Towns 
and  Cities^  there  will  be  a  gradual  deterioration  of 
the  inhabitants  of  rural  districts,  demoralized,  and 
almost  paganized,  by  the  drying  up  of  those  sources 
which  flowed  from  the  piety  and  bounty  of  former 
generations,  and  which  were  secured  by  law  for  the 
endowment  and  maintenance  of  a  Christian  Ministry, 
and  for  the  promotion  of  Religion  and  Loyalty,  and 
for  the  temporal  and  eternal  welfare  of  the  People. 

The  National  Revolutions  which  will  thence  ensue 
in  forms  of  Civil  Government  are  not  difficult  to 
foresee. 

But  amid  such  political  confusions  and  convulsions 
as  these,  there  will  be  elements  of  safety  and  peace. 

When  the  foundations  of  Secular  Institutions  are 
shaken,  and  when  anarchy  prevails  in  Civil  Society, 
then,  in  the  wreck  of  Earthly  Kingdoms,  the  minds 
of  the  faithful  will  be  turned  more  earnestly  to  the 
Church  of  God,  as  alone  possessing  a  permanence 
and  stability,  guaranteed  to  her  by  Him,  but  not 
promised  to  any  earthly  Society.  Not  indeed  for 
worldly  men  will  the  Church  of  Christ  have  any 
attractions  ;  but  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  are  con- 
scious of  the  vanity  of  earthly  wealth  and  honour, 
and  of  the  instability  of  worldly  dynasties,    and   of 


PREFACE.  ix 

the  fleeting  fickleness  of  the  things  of  Time,  and  of 
the  momentous  importance  of  the  reahties  of  Eternity, 
the  contrast  of  civil  strifes  and  political  turmoils  will 
enhance  her  dignity  and  beauty. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  likened  in  the  Canticles, 
or  Song  of  Solomon,^  to  a  "  Lily  among  thorns,"  by 
reason  of  the  calm,  silver  light  with  which  she  shines 
in  peace,  in  the  dark  shade,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
briars  and  brambles  of  the  manifold  contradictions  of 
earthly  strifes.  But  in  those  last  days  of  worldly  trouble 
and  confusion,  she  will  be,  if  we  may  venture  so  to 
speak,  like  some  noble  Column  or  fair  Temple  stand- 
ing alone  in  a  ruined  City,  or  like  a  beacon  Tower  on 
a  rock  in  the  midst  of  a  dark  Storm,  or  like  the  Ark 
of  God  itself,  riding  in  safety  on  the  wild  waste  of 
the  waters  of  the  Flood. 

A  remarkable  illustration  of  the  power  of  the 
Church  to  tranquillize  troubled  passions,  and  to  har- 
monize contending  parties,  amid  political  strifes,  has 
been  presented  to  the  admiration  of  Christendom  in 
our  own  day. 

When  about  nineteen  years  ago,  the  greatest  of 
modern  Republics  was  agitated  by  an  intestine  warfare, 
which  rent  asunder  for  a  time  its  Northern  from  its 
Southern  States,  and  which  was  waged  with  intense 
vehemence  for  about  four  years,  the  Christian  Church, 
which  was  common  to  both  the  belligerent  parties, 
remained  unhurt  ;  and  exercised  a  conciliatory  influ- 
ence over  the  minds  of  both,  and  was  like  a  golden 
chain,  which  was  never  severed,  and  which  bound  them 
together  in  holy  love.  And  when  it  pleased  God  to  . 
assuage  the  violence  of  that  terrible  War,  and  to- 
restore  peace  to  America,  then   the   Bishops,  Clergy, 

■*  Cant.  ii.  2. 


X  PREFACE, 

and  Laity  of  her  Northern  and  Southern  States  met 
in  her  Church-Coiincils  as  friends,  and  welcomed  one 
another  with  a  brotherly  embrace,  and  greeted  each 
other  with  a  kiss  of  peace. 

This  marvellous  magnetic  power,  which  the  Bride 
of  Christ  has  received  as  a  precious  dowry  from  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  of  love,  and  joy,  and  peace, 
will  show  itself  with  more  energy  and  brightness  in 
the  latter  'days. 

True  it  is,  that  her  temporal  condition  will  be  much 
affected  by  political  changes  and  confusions  in 
those  days.  It  may  be,  that  Almighty  God  in  His 
wise  providence  intends  to  allow  His  Church  to  be 
chastened  and  purified  by  adversity,  for  placing  too 
much  reliance  on  the  secular  arm,  instead  of  looking 
upward  to  Him  for  help  ;  and  for  bartering  away 
some  of  her  spiritual  franchises  for  temporal  advan- 
tages ;  and  for  betraying  sacred  trusts,  which  ought  to 
have  been  defended  by  her.  He  may  purpose  to. 
wean  her  from  worldly  things,  and  to  teach  her  where 
her  true  strength  lies  ;  and  to  exercise  the  faith  and  love 
of  her  members  to  their  spiritual  Mother  by  acts  of 
kindness  to  her  in  her  distress  ;  and  to  prepare  her  by 
the  discipline  of  suffering  and  sorrow  for  her  heavenly 
and  eternal  home. 

In  such  circumstances  as  these,  the  study  of  the 
divine  dealings  with  the  ancient  Church  of  Christ 
will  be  fraught  with  spiritual  comfort,  instruction, 
and  encouragement. 

That  study  will  display  the  rise  and  growth  of  the 
greatest  of  all  kingdoms,  the  Kingdom  of  Christ, 
which  has  already  survived  so  many  worldly  Monar- 
chies, and  will  survive  them  all. 

Such  a  study  will  not  limit  itself  to  the  times  after 
the  Coming  of  Christ. 


PREFACE.  xi 

It  will  recognize,  as  a  fundamental  truth  (taught  by 
the  greatest  theologians  of  ancient  Christendom),  that 
there  is  only  One  Church  of  God,  under  different  phases 
and  conditions,  from  the  beginning  of  the  World  to 
the  end  of  Time.  It  will  carry  the  thoughts  back 
to  Paradise,  and  to  the  preparations  made  for  the 
building  of  the  Church  in  this  World  by  the  creation 
of  Adam,  the  figure  of  Christ  ;  *  and  by  the  formation 
of  Eve,  the  Mother  of  all  living,  the  type  of  the 
Church,  from  his  side  as  he  slept ;  ^  and  it  will  thus 
reveal  a  foreshadowing  of  the  formation  of  the  Church 
from  the  wounded  side  of  Christ  on  the  Cross.  It 
will  lead  the  student  through  a  long  succession  of  ages  ; 
and  he  will  see  the  Church  of  God — the  City  of  God, 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven — existing  in  the  family  of  the 
faithful, — in  Abel,  the  shepherd  of  the  flock,  whose 
offering  pleased  God,  and  in  Seth,  and  in  Enoch,  who 
walked  with  God,  and  was  translated  ;  in  Noah, 
the  preacher  of  righteousness  ;  in  Abraham,  the  father 
of  the  faithful ;  and  in  all  the  Patriarchs,  who  saw 
Christ  by  faith  ;  in  Isaac,  the  child  of  promise  ;  in 
Jacob,  the  father  of  the  twelve  Patriarchs  ;  in  Joseph, 
in  Moses,  in  Joshua,  and  in  Samuel,  and  in  all  the 
prophets  ;  and  in  David  the  King,  to  whom  God 
promised  a  perpetual  Monarchy  in  his  seed  ;  and  in 
Daniel,  the  revealer  of  the  two  Advents  of  Christ, 
and  of  that  Everlasting  Kingdom  which- will  never  be 
destroyed. 

He  will  see  the  Church  of  God  in  the  Ark  floating 
alone  on  the  billows  of  the  flood  ;  and  in  the  Bush  at 
Horeb,  burning  but  not  consumed  ;  and  in  the  itinerant 
Tabernacle  of  the  Wilderness,  and  in  the  stationary 
Temple  at  Jerusalem  ;  and  in  Sion  itself,  the  City  of 
God  ;  he  will  see  the  Church  pre- announced  in  psalms, 

»   I  Cor.  XV.  45—47.  ^  Gen.  ii.  21  —  24;  "i-  20. 


xii  PREFACE. 

and  prophecies,  and  patriarchal  histories,  as  the 
Queen  at  Christ's  right  hand,  and  as  the  Bride 
espoused  from  the  heathen  world  (as  Rebecca  the 
wife  from  Mesopotamia,  and  Rahab  from  Jericho, 
and  Ruth  from  Moab),  and  as  represented,  even  as 
her  Divine  Lord  was,  "  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers 
manners,"  till  at  length,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  the 
promised  Seed  was  born,  and  the  "  Desire  of  all 
Nations  '^  came,  in  Whom  all  the  families  of  the  Earth 
are  blessed,  and  Who  purchased  to  Himself  an 
Universal  Church  with  His  own  most  precious  blood 
shed  for  her  on  the  Cross. 

Such  a  study  of  Church  History  will  show  how  the 
Church  came  forth  from  the  wounded  side  of  her 
Divine  Lord,  and  was  cleansed  and  sanctified  by 
the  sacramental  streams  of  blood  and  water  which 
flowed  from  that  side,  and  was  made  the  abode  of 
God  the  Holy  Ghost,  sent  down  on  the  Day  of 
Pentecost^  and  was  commissioned  and  empowered  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  all  Nations  ;  and  was  ennobled 
and  consecrated  by  the  heroical  magnanimity  and 
patient  endurance  of  Apostles,  Evangelists,  Martyrs, 
and  Confessors,  and  other  valiant  men,  and  of  hol)^ 
women  ;  and  rose  triumphant  over  all  assaults  of 
violent  persecution  from  without,  and  over  all  the 
dangerous  and  subtle  machinations  of  heresies  and  of 
schisms  from  within,  till  by  the  good  guidance  of  God 
she  attained  such  a  position  at  the  Council  of  Nicsea, 
as  no  power  of  the  Enemy  has  ever  been  able  to 
disturb. 

It  may  be,  that  Almighty  God  is  reserving  for  the 
last  age  of  the  world  the  most  severe  trial  of  her  faith, 
and  the  most  signal  proof  and  most  glorious  manifes- 
tation of  the  divine  power  of  Christianity. 


PREFACE.  xiii 

In  the  first  three  centuries,  the  might  and  love  of 
Christ  for  His  Church  was  seen  in  the  grace  and 
strength  by  which  He  enabled  her  to  overcome  the 
force  of  the  Evil  One,  enlisting  against  her  the  arms 
of  this  world,  and  endeavouring  to  crush  her  by  suc- 
cessive Persecutions.  He  then  empowered  her  to  win 
the  Roman  Empire  to  Christianity.  But  a  still  more 
illustrious  evidence  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  of 
the  abiding  power  and  love  of  God  to  His  Church,  is 
in  store  for  the  last  age.  In  the  Apostolic  and  the 
sub- Apostolic  age,  heathen  Nations,  which  had  never 
known  the  truth,  persecuted  the  Church,  and  she 
overcame  them  by  suffering.  But  in  the  last  age, 
Nations,  which  were  once  friendly  to  her,  will 
apostatize  from  the  truth,  and  will  openly  reject 
it ;  and  the  Church  will  be  like  her  Divine  Lord 
on  the  day  of  His  Passion  at  Jerusalem,  when  in  the 
High  Priest's  Hall,  and  in  the  Praetorium  of  Pilate, 
and  even  when  in  that  dark  hour  on  Calvary  He 
exclaimed,  "  Eli,  Eli,"  on  the  Cross.^  In  that  last  age, 
according  to  our  Lord's  sure  prophecy,  men  will  be 
slumbering  in  carnal  security,  and  immersed  in  sensual 
indulgence,  like  the  old  World  just  before  the  Flood,* 
or  like  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  of  the  plain "  on 
the  eve  of  the  divine  judgment  hanging  over  them. 
According  to  the  same  prophecy,  "  the  abomination  of 
desolation"  ^  will  be  set  up  in  the  holy  place  ;  and  her 
condition  will  be  like  that  of  the  Hebrew  Church  in 
the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  Syrian  Perse- 
cutor, the  type  of  Antichrist  ;   and  the  state  of  the 

'  Matt,  xxvii.  46. 

"  Matt.  xxiv.  37,  38.    Luke  xvii.  26,  27. 

"  Luke  xvii.  28 — 32. 

1  Matt.  xxiv.  15.   Mark  xiii.  14. 


XIV  PREFACE. 

World  will  be,  as  Christ  Himself  has  foretold,  like  the 
last  days  of  Jerusalem/''  which  rejected  Him. 

But  then,  in  that  time  of  distress  of  Nations 
with  perplexity,^  He,  Who  after  His  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  the  Church,  "  went  forth  conquering 
and  to  conquer,"  "^  will  again  appear  as  a  Conqueror,' 
triumphing  over  all  His  enemies  and  hers,  and 
enabling  all  His  faithful  servants  to  be  partakers  of  His 
victory  ;  and  the  Marriage  of  Christ  and  His  Bride, 
purified  from  all  mortal  stain,  will  be  celebrated,  and 
the  Church  militant  on  earth  will  be  transfigured  into 
the  Church  glorified  in  heaven. 

Therefore  to  treat  Church  History  aright,  especially 
the  Church  History  of  the  Ante-Nicene  age,  is  a  task 
which  might  seem  fit  to  employ  the  pen  of  Inspiration. 

The  Author  of  the  present  work  is  deeply  con- 
scious how  far  it  falls  short  of  the  idea  which  a 
reverent  and  intelligent  student  will  have  formed  of  the 
subject  before  him.  The  writer  will  only  say  that  the 
design  conceived  in  his  own  mind,  was  to  write  under 
the  guiding  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  impressing  on 
his  mind  that  leading  idea,  which  animated  and  directed 
the  minds  of  ancient  Church  Historians,  such  as  Euse- 
bius  and  Theodoret,  and  especially  S.  Augustine*^  in 
his  great  work  on  the  City  of  God,  and  which  is  un- 
folded by  the  Holy  Spirit  Himself  in  the  Apocalypse 
of  St.  John,  in  the  prophetic  representation  of  the  des- 
tinies of  the  Church  from  the  first  Advent  of  Christ  to 


2  Matt.  xxiv.  3 — 42.  '  Luke  xxi.  25  ;  see  also  Rev.  vi.  12 — ^17. 

4  Rev.  vi.  2.  *  Rev.  xix.  11— 14. 

«  S.  Axigustin.de  Civitate  Dei,  lib.  xv.  cap.  i,  "Hoc  universum 
tempus  istarum  duarum  Civitatum  excursus  est  ;"  see  the  whole  chapter, 
and  indeed  that  and  the  following  books  of  that  work. 


PREFACE.  XV 

the  final  consummation  of  all  ^  things ;  and  to  recognize, 
and  to  endeavour  to  display,  in  the  History  of  the 
Church  the  progress  of  a  great  struggle  between  the 
two  antagonistic  powers  of  Good  and  Evil,  Light  and 
Darkness,  the  City  of  God  and  the  City  of  the  World  ; 
and  to  show  how,  in  all  the  successive  stages  of  that 
great  struggle,  Evil  has  been  overruled  for  good,  and 
been  made  ministerial  to  it.  And  thence  arises 
the  sure  hope,  that,  after  the  last  Conflict,  which 
will  be  the  severest  struggle  of  all,  on  the  eve  of 
Christ's  Coming,  the  greatest  good  will  ensue, — even 
everlasting  glory  and  infinite  felicity  to  all  faithful 
servants  of  the  Divine  Head  of  the  Church.^ 

Two  minor  matters,  of  a  personal  nature,  seem  to 
require  notice. 

The  Author  has  tried  to  give  more  life  to 
the  narrative  by  inserting  extracts  from  ancient 
Christian  Writers  ;  and  it  is  due  to  the  reader  to 
explain,  that  he  has  not  in  all  cases  given  a  full  and 
exact  translation  of  those  passages,  but  has  sometimes 
been  content  with  condensing  or  paraphrasing  them  ; 
he  trusts,  however,  that  in  no  case  has  he  given  them 
a  meaning  alien  to  that  of  their  writers. 

He  is  obliged  also  to  crave  indulgence  for  the  fre- 
quent occurrence  of  references  in  the  following  pages 
to  some  of  his  own  writings,  particularly  to  his  Com- 
mentary on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  to  his 
volume  on  S.  Hippolytus,  and  to  some  other  of  his 
works.     His  apology  for  this  may  be  pleaded  on  the 

^  See  Rev.  vi.  and  vii. 

8  The  circumstances  of  that  last  Conflict,  and  its  results,  are  de- 
scribed by  S.  Augustine,  de  Civ.  Dei  xx.  c.8,  lo,  ii,  13 — 21,  andinxxii. 
c.  30,  and  in  his  letter  to  Hesychius  "On  the  End  of  the  World," 
Epist.  79. 


xvi  PREFACE. 

ground  that  these  references  point  to  statements  and 
authorities  relevant  to  passages  in  the  present 
volume,  and  that  the  insertion  of  those  statements 
and  authorities  in  it  would  have  inconveniently  added 
to  its  bulk.  He  trusts,  therefore,  that  the  reader  will 
pardon  those  references. 

Lastly,  he  humbly  commends  this  work  to  the 
blessing  of  Him  Whose  footsteps  in  the  history  of 
the  Church  he  has  endeavoured  reverently  to  trace. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

On  the  Foundation,   Constitution,   Design,    Office,    History,    and 

Consummation  of  the  Christian  Church  .         .         .         .        i 

CHAPTER  II. 

On  previous  Providential  Preparations  for  the  Work  of  the  Church 

in  the  World,  and  on  her  Use  of  them    .....     12 

CHAPTER  III. 

On  the   Preparations  for  Christianity— Religious,   Philosophical, 

Intellectual,  Moral,  and  Social 17 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Apostolic  Preaching— Its  Principles,  Method,  Agents,  and  Progress     34 

CHAPTER  V. 

On  the  Constitution  of  the  Christian  Ministry— Bishops,  Priests, 

and  Deacons         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ...     42 

CHAPTER  VI. 

On  the  Christian  Sacraments— Baptism,  Holy  Communion  (Obla- 
tion, Weekly  Offertory) — Confirmation  .         .         .         .51 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Hostile   assaults    on   the    Christian    Church — overruled    for   her 

good.     First  opposition  fron\  the  Jews. 
S.  Justin  ]\Iartyr's  Dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew.    Other  Christian 

Apologies  against  Judaism     . go 

a 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE 

Second    assault   against  Christianity — from   the    Heathen.     Also 

overruled  for  the  good  of  the  Church 77 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Persecutions  of  the  Church  continued — Popular  Objections  against 

Christianity — Apologies  in  behalf  of  Christianity — Tertullian  .     88 

CHAPTER  X. 

Apologies   continued — Epistle   to    Diognetus — Minucius    Felix — 

Origen  against  Celsus    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .105 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Persecution  under   Trajan — S.  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch  and 

Martyr — His  Epistles 122 

CHAPTER  XII. 

State  of  the  Church  under  Hadrian — Apologies — Antoninus  Pius 
— Justin  Martyr — Persecutions  under  Marcus  Aurelius — 
Martyrdom  of  S.  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna         .         .         .    148 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Rise  and  Growth  of  Heresies — Gnosticism — General  Charac- 
teristics        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .179 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Schools  of  Gnosticism — Simon  Magus,  Menander,  Cerinthvis, 
Ebionites,  Carpocrates,  Epiphanes,  Naassenes,  Ophites,  Cainites, 
Sethites,  Peratae,  Saturninus,  Basilides  .         .  .  .         .187 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Gnostic  Heresies  continued — Tatian,  the  Encratites,  Marcion ;  the 

Clementines — the  Elchasaites 197 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Gnostic  Heresies  continued — Valentinus        .....  203 

CHAPTER  XVIT. 
Defenders  of  Christianity  against  Pleresy—S.  Irenseus  .         .         .  213 


CONTENTS.  xix 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PAGE 

Defenders  of  the  Church  against  Heresy — TertuUian     .         .         .   234 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Defenders  of  the  Faith  against  Heresy — S.  Clement  of  Alexandria  251 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Defenders  of  the  Faith — Origen  .......   269 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Defenders  of  the  Faith — S.  Hippolytus,  Bishop  of  Portus  Romanus, 
or  Harbour  of  Rome — His  Statue — His  recently-discovered 
"  Refutation  of  all  Heresies  " .  2S5 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Tendencies  of  S.  Hippolytus  to  Novatianism — Pleas  urged  in 
favour  of  that  Schism — Occasion  of  its  Rise  and  Growth — • 
Novatian  at  Rome — the  first  Antipope — against  Cornelius — 
Novatus  at  Carthage  against  Cyprian — S.  Cypiuan's  Remon- 
strances— Action  of  S.  Hippolytus — Intervention  of  S.  Diony- 
sius  of.  Alexandria — Controversy  on  Baptism  by  Heretics — 
Carthage  and  Rome — Healing  of  the  Schism— Inferences  from 
it — Comments  of  S.  Augustine  and  of  Richard  Hooker  .         .   308 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Ethics  of  Christianity  compared  with  those  of  Pleathenism — 
Lives  of  Christians  ;  Influence  of  Christianity  oh  Marriage  ; 
Slavery  ;  Care  of  Sick  and  Dying  ;  Almsgiving  ;  Ransoming  of 
Captives— illustrated  from  the  life  and  writings  of  three  ancient 
Fathers  of  the  second  and  third  centuries,  TertuUian,  Diony- 
sius  of  Alexandria,  and  S.  Cyprian  ;  and  by  S.  Laurence, 
Archdeacon  of  Rome — Acts  and  Martyrdom  of  S.  Cyprian     .   323 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Chronological  Summary  from  a.d.  180  to  Council  of  Nicaea,  a.d. 
325 — Persecutions  and  Martyrdoms — Benefits  from — Proof  of 
Truth  of  Christianity— Christ's  Godhead— Inspiration  of 
Scripture — Refutation  of  Infidelity — Infidel  Writers — Christian 
Loyalty — Purification  of  the  Church — Power  of  Divine  Grace — 
Names  of  Martyrs— S.  Alban 352 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Councils  and  Creeds — General  Remarks  on  Councils — Inferences 
from   their  History — What  constitutes  a  General  Council — 

a  2 


XX  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Ante-Nicene  Councils — Council  of  Jerusalem — Councils  of 
Carthage,  of  Antioch,  Cirtha — Origin  of  Donatism— Council 
of  Eliberis,  or  Elvira — Council  of  Rome — Council  of  Aries — 
Council  of  Ancyra — Council  of  Neo-Caesarea — Apostolic 
Canons  (so  called)  and  Apostolic  Constitutions— General 
Reflections 387 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Struggle  of  the  Church  with  Arianism — Arius  ;  Constantine  ; 
Hosius,  Bishop  ofCorduba  ;  Constantia  ;  Eusebius,  Bishop  of 
Nicomedia ;  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Caesarea ;  Alexander, 
Bishop  of  Alexandria  ;  Athanasius ;  Anthony,  the  Founder  of 
Monasticism  ;  the  Council  of  Nicaea ;  the  Nicene  Creed  and 
Nicene  Canons — Inferences  therefrom — Retrospect — Reflec- 
tions upon  it— Conclusion 419 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


Birth  of  Jesus  Christ  probably  a.  u.c.  749,  four  years  de/ore 
the  common  era.     See  the  Author's  note  on  Matt.  ii.  20. 

Our  Lord's  Presentation  in  the  Temple,  forty  days  after  the 
Nativity. 

Visit  of  the  Wise  Men. 

Flight  into  Egypt. 

Herod's  death,  a  little  before  the  Passover,  a. U.C.  750. 

Settlement  at  Nazareth. 

On  the  sequence  of  these  events,  see  the  note  on  Matt.  ii.  9. 


A.D. 


8.        Jesus  is  catechized  in  the  Temple  at  the  Passover  (Luke  ii. 
42—49). 
14.        Death  of  the  Emperor  Augustus    (19th    August).      Tiberius 

succeeds. 
26.        Jesus  Christ  begins  His  Ministry  (Luke  iii.  23  ;  cp.  notes  on 

Matt.  ii.  9,  20). 
30.       The  Crucifixion  of  Christ  at  the  Passover. 

His  Ascension,  forty  days  after  His  Resurrection. 
The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  the  Feast  of  Pentecost  fifty 
days  after  the  Passover. 
31,  32.    The  Events  described  in  Chapters  iii.— vi.  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles. 

33.  St.  Stephen's  Martyrdom  (Acts  vii.).     Sail/  was  then  a  j/oimg 

mail,  veavias  (vii.  58). 
St.  Philip's  Missionaiy  Journey  (Acts  viii.  5 — 40). 
St.  Peter  and  St.  John  at  Samaria.     Simon  Magus  (Acts'viii. 

14— 24)- 

34.  Saul's  Conversion  (Acts  ix.  1—22)  :  cp.  Eztseo.  H.  E.  ii.  i  ;  and 

see  note  on  i  Tim.  i.  13. 
Saul  retires  to  Arabia  (Gal.  i.  17). 
36.        Pontius  Pilate    is  recalled  from  his  procuratorship  in  Judaea 

{yosep/i.,  Ant.  xviii.  4.  2). 
Damascus  occupied  by  Aretas,  who  appoints  an  Ethnarch  there. 


xxii  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

A.D. 

37.        "  After  many  days  "  (ix.  25),  Saul  escapes  from  Damascus. 

Goes  up  to  Jerusalem  ;  where  he  xo.vazxw.'i  fifteen  days,  and  sees 
Peter  and  James  (Gal.   i.  18,  19.     Acts  ix.  26,  27);  and 
disputes  with  the  Grecians  ;  Saul  is  sent  to  Tarsus  (ix.  30). 
The  Emperor  Tiberius  dies,  1 6th  March  ;  Caligula  succeeds. 
38—41.  "  Rest  of  the  Churches  "  (Acts  ix.  31). 

St.   Peter's  Missionary  Journey   (ix,    32—43).      He  tarries  at 

Joppa  many  days  (ix.  43). 
Conversion  and  Baptism  of  Cornelius  and  other  Gentiles  at 
Caesarea  (Acts  x.  i — 48). 
41.        The  Emperor  Caligula  dies,  24th  January,  and  is  succeeded  by 
Claudius. 
St.  Matthew's   Gospel  written  probably  about    this  time   (cp. 
Introdtution,  pp.  xlix — lii,  and  note  on  Acts  i.  4). 

43.  Euodius,  first  Bishop  of  Antioch  [Etiseb.   Chron.   ii.  p.  269. 

Clinton,  F.  R.  App.  ii.  p.  548). 
The  Disciples  first  called  Christians  at  Antioch  (Acts  xi.  26). 

44.  The  Apostle  St.  James,  the  brother  of  John,  is  killed  with  the 

sword  (Acts  xii.  2),  and  St.  Peter  is  imprisoned  by  Herod 
Agrippa,  before  Easter  (xii.  4).  Peter  is  delivered  ;  and 
Herod  is  smitten  by  an  Angel,  and  dies  at  Csesarea  (xii.  23). 

St.  Peter  departs  from  Jerusalem  "  to  another  place  "  (xii.  17). 

vSaul  and  Barnabas  having  been  deputed  by  the  Christians  at 
Antioch  (xi.  27 — 30)  to  bring  supplies  to  the  brethren  in 
Judaea,  on  account  of  the  anticipation  of  the  famine  foretold 
by  Agabus,  which  "came  to  pass  in  the  reign  of  Claudius 
•  Csesar  "  (xi.  28),  i.  e.  after  January,  A.D.  41,  returned  from 
Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  with  John  Mark,  who  was  connected 
with  Peter  (xii.  12),  and  with  Barnabas.     (See  on  xv.  39.) 

45.  The    Ordination  of  Saul   and    Barnabas,   at  Antioch,    to    the 

Apostleship  o^  t\i.e  Gentiles.  (See  on  Acts  xiii.  i.)  Saul  is 
henceforth  called  Paul.  (See  Acts  xiii.  9.)  St.  Paul's 
"Visions  and  Revelations  of  the  Lord"  seem  to  have 
been  vouchsafed  to  him  about  this  time.  (See  on  2  Cor. 
xii.  2,  3.) 
T\iQ\\- first  Missionary  Jotirney  to  Cyprus  (Paphos),  and  Pisidia, 
and  Perga  in  Pamphylia  (xiii.  4—13),  whence  Mark  returns 
to  Jerusalem.  They  visit  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  Iconium, 
Lystra ;  return  to  Perga  in  Pamphylia,  and  thence  come 
back  to  the  place  of  their  ordination,  Antioch,  where  they 
remain  a  considerable  time  with  the  disciples  (Acts  xiv.  26 
-28). 
49.  A  controversy  arises  at  Antioch  concerning  the  obligation  of 
the  Ceremonial  Law  (Acts  xv.  1,2). 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  xxiii 

A.D. 
49.        Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  some  others,  are  deputed  to  go  from 
Antioch  to  Jerusalem,  "  to  the  Apostles  and  Elders,"  ccn- 
cerning  this  matter  (Acts  xv.  2,  3). 
50,  51.    Council  of  Jerusalem,  at  which  Peter  and  James,  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  are  present  (xv.  6 — 29). 
Paul  and  Barnabas  return  to  Antioch,  where  they  remain  some 
time  (xv.  35,  36).     Dispute  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter  at 
Antioch,  concerning  the  Ceremonial  Law,     St.  Peter  is 
rebuked  by  St.  Paul  (Gal.  ii.  11 — 13). 
The  altercation  and  separation  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  (Acts  xv. 

39)- 

Paul  takes  Silas  (Actsxv.  40)  on  his  second  Missionary  Journey, 
and  afterwards  Timothy  also  at  Lystra  (xvi.  i). 
52—54.  St.  Paul  passes  through  Phiygia  and  Galatia  to  Troas  (xvi.  6,  8). 
I'hence  crosses  over  to   Philippi   (xvi.    12),  Thessalonica 
(xvii.  i),  Beroea  (xvii.  10);  thence  to  Athens  (xvii.  15). 

St.  Lukes  Gospel  written  probably  about  this  time.  See  the 
Introduction  to  that  Gospel,  p.  168,  and  notes  on  i  Thess. 
V.  2,  27,  and  2  Cor.  viii.  18 ;  and  cp.  Clem.  Alex,  in 
Euseb.  vi.  14. 

St.  Paul  comes  to  Corinth,  where  he  spends  a  year  and  six 
months  (xviii.  I,  li). 

Aquila  and  Priscilla  come  to  Corinth. 

St.  Paul  writes  his  two  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians .  See  the 
Introduction  to  those  Epistles,  pp.  I,  2,  and  25. 

St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  written  probably  about  this 
time  from  Corinth.  See  the  Introduction  to  that  Epistle, 
pp.  36—41. 

St.  Paul  sets  sail  from  Cenchre?e,  the  Eastern  harbour  of 
Corinth,  in  the  spiing  for  Ephesus,  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem, 
for  the  Feast,  probably  Pentecost  (xviii.  18,  19). 

The  Emperor  Claudius  dies  (13th  October,  a.  d.  54),  and  Nero 
succeeds. 

After  a  short  visit  at  Jerusalem  (xviii.  21), 

St.  Paul  returns  by  way  o^ Antioch,  where  he  spends  some  time 
(xviii.  22),  and  Galatia  and  Phiygia,  v!\\qx&  he  confirms  all 
the  disciples  (xviii.  23),  and  by  the  upper  regions  of  Asia 
Minor  (xix.  i)  to  Ephesus;  where  he  spends  three  years 
(xx.  31) — three  months  in  the  Synagogue,  and  tzuo  years  in 
the  school  of  Tyrannus  (xix.  8 — 10). 
57-  St.  Paul's 7?;'^/  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  See  Introduction  to 
that  Epistle,  pp.  75—77. 

St.  Paul,  after  three  years'  stay  at  Ephesus,  quits  it  for  Mace- 
donia (xx.  i). 


XXIV  CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 

A.D. 
57*        ^i.  Vq.\xVs  secojid  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,     '^tt  Introduction 
to  that  Epistle,  p.  143. 

Comes  into  Hellas,  and  spends  three  mo7iths  there  (Acts  xx.  3). 
58.        St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Ro?nans,  written  at  Corinth  or  Cen- 
chrese.     See  Introduction  to  it,  p.  203. 

St.  Paul  returns  to  Macedonia  in  the  Spring,  and  arrives  at 
Philippi  for  Easter  (Acts  xx.  6). 

Passes  over  to  Troas  (xx.  6).  Touches  at  Miletus,  where  he 
bids  farewell  to  the  Presbyters  of  Ephesus,  and  gives  them 
an  Apostolic  charge  (xx.  17),  and  Tyre  (xxi.  3),  and  lands 
at  Coesarea  (xxi.  8).  Comes  to  Jerusalem  after  several  years 
(xxiv.  17),  for  the  Feast  of  Pentecost  (xx.  16;  xxi.  17), 
and  brings  with  him  the  alms  (Acts  xxiv.)  which  he  had 
been  collecting  in  Asia  and  Greece  for  the  poor  saints  at 
Jerusalem.  (Rom,  xv.  25,  26.  I  Cor.  xvi.  i  ;  see  on 
2  Cor.  viii.  18;  ix.  I  — 12.)  He  is  accompanied  by  St. 
Lnke  now  and  till  his  arrival  in  Rome,  a=d.  61  ;  see  also 
below  on  a.d.  67. 

St.  Paul  is  arrested  by  Jews  at  Jerusalem  in  the  Temple  (Acts 
xxi.  28). 

Is  conveyed  to  Csesarea  (xxiii.  23 — 33). 
58 — 60.  Remains  two  years  in  detention  at  Ccesarea  (xxiv.  27). 

Epistle  General  of  St.  James.     ^0.0.  Introd.  to  it. 

St.  Paul  is  sent  by  Festus,  in  the  Autumn  of  A.  D.  60,  by  sea 
toward  Rome  (xxvii.  i);  is  accompanied  in  his  voyage  by 
St.  Luke  and  Aristarchus. 

Winters  at  "Malta  (xxviii.  1 1). 

61.  Spring  ;  St,  Paul  arrives,  with  St,  Luke,  at  Rome. 

62.  Martyrdom  of  St.  James  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  at  the  Pass- 

over. 
62,  63.    St,  Paul  is  at  Rome,  where  he  writes  the  Epistles  to  the  Ephe- 
sians'^  Colossians  (see  Introduction  to  Ephesians,  p.  269), 
and   to  Philemon,   in  which  he  calls  himself  '■^Paul  the 
aged'''  (Philem.  9.     See  above  on  A.D.  33),  and  that  to  the 
Philippians  at  the  close  of  his  imprisonmejtt,  A.  D.  63. 
Is  detained  at  Rome  for  "  two  whole  yedrs,"  till  the  Spring  of 
A.D.  63  (Acts  xxviii.  30);  where  the  History  of  the  "Acts 
of  the  Apostles  "  concludes  :  cp,  Euseb.  ii,  22. 
64.       St.    Paul,  after  his  liberation  from  his  first   imprisonment  at 
Rome,   goes    probably   to   Spain,    and    perhaps    even  to 
Britain.     See  on  Rom.  xv.  24,  28,  and  the  Introduction  to 
the  Pastoral  Epistles,  pp.  418 — 421. 
Writes  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.     The  great  burning  of  Rome 
by  Nero,  July  19. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  xxv 

A.D. 
64.  In  the  Summer  of  A.  D.  64,  the  first  Persecution  of  the  Chris- 
tians at  Rome  under  the  Emperor  Nero  begins.  See  Iti- 
troditction  to  the  Epistles  to  Timothy,  p.  417,  note. 
St.  Peter,  at  Babylon,  writes  his  First  General  Epistle;  and 
soon  afterwards  travels  westward  towards  Rome.  See  the 
Introduction  to  St.  Peter's  First  Epistle,  pp.  36—44. 
St.  Mark  and  Silvanus,  or  Silas,  are  with  him,  when  he 
writes  his  First  Epistle.     See  on  i  Pet.  v.  12,  13,  and  pp. 

43»  44- 
65—67.  St.  Paul  returns  from  the  West  in  his  way  to  Jerusalem,  pro- 
bably with  Timothy  (Heb.  xiii.  23).  Perhaps  leaves  Titus 
at  Crete  in  his  way  to  Jerusalem ;  and  after  his  visit  to 
Jerusalem  performs  his  promise  of  visiting  Colossse  in 
Phrygia  (Philem.  22). 

On  his  way  to  Macedonia,  to  visit  Philippi,  according  to  his 
promise  (Phil.  ii.  24),  he  commands  Timothy  to    "abide 
'    at  Ephesus"  as  chief  Pastor  there  (i  Tim.  i.  3). 

St.  Paul's /rj/^/z>//^/^  7}'wt7%,  Bishop  of  Ephesus.  Seethe 
Introdjiction  to  that  Epistle,  p.  420. 

St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  Titus,  Bishop  of  Crete. 

St.  Paul  passes  a  winter  at  Nicopolis  in  Epirus  (Tit.  iii.  12). 

Probably  visits  Corinth,  where  Erastus  was  left  in  charge 
(2  Tim.  iv.  20). 

Comes  to  Asia,  where  he  leftTrophimus  at  Miletus  (2  Tim.  iv,  20). 

Perhaps  saw  Timothy  at  Miletus.     . 

St.  Paul  is  arrested,  probably  near  Miletus,  and  is  sent  a  pri- 
soner to  Rome.  See  the  Introduction  to  the  Pastoral 
Epistles,  and  notes  on  2  Tim.  i.  4,  13  ;  iv.  13—17- 

Touches  at  Troas  (2  Tim.  iv.  13)  in  his  way  to  Rome. 

St.  Paul,  in  close  custody  at  Rome,  writes  the  Second  Epistle  to 
Timothy.  St.  Luke  is  with  him,  and  he  sends  for  St. 
Mark  {2  Tim.  iv.  il). 

St.  Peter's  Second  General  Epistle  written  about  this  time.  See 
Introduction  to  it,  p.  69. 

St.  Mark's  Gospel  written  probably  about  this  time.  See  Intro- 
duction to  that  Gospel,  p.  112. 

68.  Martyrdom  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  at  Rome.     See  the  Intro- 

duction  to  the  Epistles  to  Timothy,  pp.  423,  424. 
The  Emperor  Nero  dies  on  the  9th  of  June,  in  the  thirty-first 
year  of  his  age  ;  is  succeeded  by  Galba. 

69.  The  Emperor  Galba  dies  on  the  15th  January,  and  is  succeeded 

by  Otho. 
The  Emperor  Otho  dies  on  the  20th  April,  and  is  succeeded 
by  Vitellius. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 


69.  The   Emperor  Vitellius  dies  on  the  24th  December,  and  is 

succeeded  by  Vespasian. 

70.  Jerusalem  taken   by  Titus,   the    son    of  Vespasian  ;   the 

Temple  burnt.    Cp.  notes  on  Luke  xix.  43,  44  ;  xxi.  20. 

71.  Triumph  of  Vespasian  and  Titus  for  the  conquest  of  Judaea. 
75.  About  this  time  Josephus  writes  his  history  of  the  Jewish 

War. 

79.  The  Emperor  Vespasian  dies  on  the  23rd  June,  and  is  suc- 

ceeded by  his  son  Titus.  Eruption  of  Vesuvius,  Aug,  24, 
buries  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.     Pliny  the  Elder  dies. 

81.  The  Emperor  Titus  dies  on  the  13th  September,  and  is  suc- 

ceeded by  his  brother  Domitian. 

81 — 94.  St.  Judc^s  General  Epist/e,  and  i'/*.  John'' s  Gospel  and  Epistles 
written  probably  in  this  interval  of  time. 

94.  Josephus  ends  his  "Jewish  Antiquities." 

95.  Second  Roman  Persecution  of  the  Christians. 

St.  John  writes  the  Apocalypse,  or  Revelation.     See  Intro- 
duction, pp.  156 — 15S. 

96.  .    The  Emperor  Domitian  dies  on  the  i8th  September,  and  is 

succeeded  by  Nerva,  who  rescinds  many  of  his  prede- 
cessor's acts.  See  Introdnction'\.o  St.  John's  Gospel, 
p.  267,  and  to  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

97.  ^.  Ignatius  Bishop  of  Antioch  ;  Poly  carp  Bishop  of  Smyrna. 

The  Epistle  of  S.  Clement,  Bishop  of  Rome,  to  the 
Corinthians  written  about  this  time  ;  and  perhaps  the 
' '  Shepherd  of  Ha-mas. " 

98.  The  Emperor  Nerva  dies  at  the  end  of  January,  and  is  suc- 

ceeded by  Trajan. 

[oo.  The  Apostle  and  Evangelist  St.  John  dies  at  Ephesus  about 

this  time  (Iren.  iii.  3). 

[03.  Pliny    the    Vounger,    Governor    of    Bithynia   and  Pontus, 

arrives  in  his  province,  Sept.  13.  His  correspondence 
with  the  Emperor  Trajan  on  the  judicial  procedure  to 
be  adopted  with  regard  to  the  Christians. 

113,  114.   Dedication  of  Trajan's  forum  and  column  at  Rome. 

115.  Earthquake  at   Antioch    in  Syria  early   in  this  year;    the 

Consul  Pedo  perishes  in  it.  Trajan  hurt  by  it— escapes 
through  a  window. 
S.  Ignatius  arraigned  before  Trajan  at  Antioch  in  the  early 
spring  of  the  year  ;  condemned  to  be  sent  a  prisoner  to 
Rome  to  be  martyred  by  lions.  He  is  at  Smyrna  with  S. 
Polycarp  in  August ;  writes  Epistle  to  the  Romans  there, 
Aug.  24;  passes  through  Troas,  Neapolis,  Philippi  to 
Portus  Romanus  or  harbour  of  Rome  in  the  Tiber. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


A.D. 

115.  Seven  Epir,tles  of  Ignatius. 

Ignatius  martyred  in  the  Colosseum  at  Rome,  Dec.  20. 

116.  S.  Polycarp's  Epistle  to  the  Philippians. 

117.  The  Emperor   Trajan  dies   in   Cilicia,    Aug.    ii.     Hadrian 

succeeds. 
119.  Hadrian  associates  Q.  Junius  Rusticus  with  himself  in  the 

Consulship.     Suetonius,  the  biographer  of  the  Caesars, 
acts,  it  is  supposed,  as  the  Emperor's  Secretary. 
Quadratus  and  Aristides  present  Apologies  to  Hadrian  (S. 
Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  19  and  20). 
129.  Earthquake  in  Bithynia. 

132.  Hadrian    divinizes    Antinous;    plants   a    Roman  Colony  at 

Jerusalem,  which  exasperates  the  Jews  to  a  rebellion. 

133.  Insurrection  of  Barcochebas  (a  false  Christ)  in  Palestine. 

134.  Gnostic  Heretics  in  succession,— Saturninus,  Basilides,   Me- 

nander,  Valentinus. 

I3^_I37.  More  than  half  a  million  of  Jews  perish  in  the  revolt.  Jeru- 
salem destroyed  by  Hadrian,  who  calls  it  after  his  own 
name  Ailia  Capitolina.  Jews  forbidden  to  enter  it. 
Mark  the  first  Gentile  Bishop  of  the  Church  there. 

138.  The  Emperor  Hadrian  dies  at  Baiae,  July  10,  and  is  succeeded 

by  Antoninus  Pius,  whom  he  had  adopted  on  Feb.  25 

before.    Antoninus  Pius  had  adopted  M.  Aurelius  and 

Lucius  Verus. 

Justin   Martyr's  first   Apology  (addressed   to   the  Emperor 

Antoninus  Pius)  is  assigned  by  some  to  this  year. 
Herodes  Atticus  (of  Marathon,  Consul  A.D.  143)  the  Rhe- 
torician and  Sophist,  and  Cornelius  Fronto,  tutors  of  the 
two  Caesars  in  Rhetoric  ;  Junius  Rusticus  and  Apollonius 
(Stoics)  in  Philosophy. 

144.  Marcion's  heresy  in  the  time   of  Antoninus  Pius  (Tertullian, 

Marcioni.  I9),when  Justin  wrote  his  first  Apology  (i.  c.  70). 
Justin  wrote  a  work  against  Marcion  (Iren.  iv.  4). 

150.  Celsus  writes  against  Christianity  about  this  time. 

152.  Hegesippus,  the  Church  annalist,  flourished. 

155.  S.  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  comes  to  Rome,  in  the  reign 

of  Antoninus  Pius,  and  in  the  Pontificate  of  Anicetus,  and 
meets  Marcion  (Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  17).     Valentinus  had 
then  propagated  his  heresy  there  (ibid.). 
Feb.  23.  Martyrdom  of  S.  Polycarp  at  Smyrna,  according  to 
some  ;  see  A.D.  166,  and  below,  p.  161,  note. 

161.  The   Emperor  Antoninus  Pius  dies,   March  7,    and  is  suc- 

ceeded by  Marcus  Aurelius,  who  associates  L.  Verus 
(eight  years  his  junior)  in  the  Empire  as  Augustus. 


xxviii  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

A.D.  • 

i6i.  Birth  of  Commodus,  the  future  Emperor. 

162.  Justin    Martyr   presents    his    second    Apology    to    Marcus 

Aurelius  and  Commodus  (Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  23).  It  is 
supposed  by  Borghesi  to  have  been  presented  to  Anto- 
ninus Pius  ;  see  below,  p.  152. 

Martyrdom  of  SS.  Perpetua  and  Felicitas  placed  by  some  at 
this  time  ;  see  below,  p.  152. 

Bologesus,  King  of  Parthia,  declares  war  against  Rome. 
Parthian  War.     Campaign  of  Verus  in  the  East. 

163.  Martyrdom   of    S.   Justin    Martyr.      Apologies   of    Melito, 

Theophilus,  Athenagoras,  Miltiades,  Apollinarius  in  this 
reign. 
Lucian  de  Morte  Peregrin!  about  this  time.   . 
165.  Avidius  Cassius  pursues  Bologesus,  King  of  Parthia. 

165,  166.   A  great  Pestilence  brought  from  the  East. 

Galen  practises  Physic  at  Rome. 

166.  Feb.   23.   Martyrdom  of  S.  Polycarp  by  fire  at   Smyrna  is 

placed  by  some  in  this  year  or  in  165  (see  A.D.  155). 
Commodus  is  made  Casar,  Oct.  12. 

168.  Death   of  Pope    Anicetus   (Euseb.   iv.    19);    succeeded    by 

Soter. 
Apology  of  Athenagoras  between   165  and  169,  being  dedi- 
cated to  Verus,  who  died  in  A.D.  169. 

1 69.  Verus,  having  returned  from  the  East,  dies  at  Altinum. 

172.  Marcus  Aurelius  writes  ^^  de  Seipso  "  about  this  time. 

173.  Montanism — Tatian. 

1 74.  Victory  of  Marcus  Aurelius  over  the  Quadi.  ' '  The  Thundering 

Legion."  Tertullian's  Apology  written  after  this,  pro- 
bably about  A.D.  202,  and  before  he  became  a  Montanist, 
as  he  did  before  A.D.  207. 

175.  Aristides  writes  his  UpoX  K6yoi  about  this  time. 

176.  The  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  returns  .to  Rome  after  eight 

years'  absence  ;  associates  his  son  Commodus  with  him 
in  the  Empire. 

177.  Eleutherus  Bishop  of  Rome. 

Smyrna  almost  destroyed  by  an  Earthquake ;  restored  by  the 

Emperor. 
Persecutions  of  Christians  in  Gaul. 
Martyrdoms  at  Vienne  and  Lyons. 
Irenasus  at  Rome  ;  he  succeeds  Pothinus  (who  died  a  Martyr 

at  nearly  ninety  years  of  age)  as  Bishop  of  Lyons  (Jerome, 

Scr.  Eccl.  35). 
180.  The  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  dies  at  Vienne,  March  16,  and 

is  succeeded  by  his  son  Commodus,  who   under  the 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE, 


influence  of  his  concubine  Maria  is  favourable  to  the 
Christians. 
l8i.  Theophilus  ad  Autolycum. 

185.  Origen  born. 

187.  S.    Irenaeus    "floruit    sub    Commodo "    (S.    Jerome,     Scr. 

Eccl.  35). 
189.  Clement  of  Alexandria. 

Victor  Bishop  of  Rome. 
Tertullian. 

192.  Commodus  assassinated  ;  he  is  succeeded  on  Jan.  ist, 

193.  by  Pertinax,  who  is  killed  on  March  28th.   He  is  succeeded  by 

Julianus,  who  is  killed  on  June  2nd,  and  is  succeeded  by 
Severus. 
Clemens   Alexandrinus  writes  "Stromata"  under  Severus. 
"Floruit  Severi  et  Antonini  filii  ejus  temporibus"  (S. 
Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  38). 

211.  Tertullian  ad  Scapulam  soon  after  this  year. 

Severus  dies  at  York,  Feb.  4  ;  succeeded  by  his  sons  Caracalla 

and  Geta. 
Caius  against  Proclus  in  the  time  of  Zephyrinus  (S.  Jerome, 

Scr.  Eccl.  59). 

212.  Geta  killed  by  his  brother  Caracalla  about  Feb.  27  in  this 

year. 

213.  Origen  at  Rome  in  the  time  of  Zephyrinus. 

216.  Noetus  the  Patripassian  heretic  (Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  54). 

217;  Caracalla  slain,  April  8  ;  is  succeeded  by  Macrinus. 

218.  Callistus  Bishop  of  Rome. 

Macrinus  defeated  and  killed  in  June  by  Elagabalus,  who 
succeeded  him. 

Pope  Zephyrinus  is  succeeded  by  Callistus. 

S.  Hippolytus  Bishop  of  Portus  Romanus. 

222.  Elagabalus  slain,  March  1 1 ;  succeeded  by  Alexander  Severus. 
Paschal  Cycle  of  S.  Hippolytus,  Bishop  of  Portus  Romanus. 

223.  Urbanus  Bishop  of  Rome. 

228.  Origen  ordained  to  the  Priesthood  at  Caesarea. 

230.  Pontianus  Bishop  of  Rome  ? 

S.  Hippolytus,  Bishop  of  Portus,  writes  his  "Refutation  of 
all  Heresies  "  between  a.d.  230  and  240. 

235.  Alexander  Severus  slain  in  March,  and  succeeded  by  Maxi- 

minus,  who  persecutes  the  Church. 
Anterus  Bishop  of  Rome. 

236.  Fabianus  Bishop  of  Rome. 

238.  Maximinus  killed  ;  succeeded  by  Gordian. 

244.  Gordian  slain  in  the  spring,  and  is  succeeded  by  Philippus, 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


who  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  a  Christian  (S. 
Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  54).  Peace  of  the  Church  during  the 
five  years  of  his  reign. 

248.  S.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria. 
Cyprian  Bishop  of  Carthage. 
Origen  against  Celsus. 

249.  The  Emperor  Philip  defeated  and  slain  at  Verona  ;  succeeded 

by  Decius,  who  rages  against  the  Christian  friends  of 
his  predecessor  (S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  54). 
2.50.  Decius.     Fierce  and  general  Persecution  of  the  Church. 

Babylas  martyred  at  Antioch. 
Lapsi  and  Traditores. 

251.  Cornelius  Bishop  of  Rome.     Novatian  Antipope. 
Cyprian  and  Felicissimus.     Novatus. 

Decius  is  slain,  and  succeeded  by  Gallus. 
Persecution  under  Gallus. 

252.  Martyrdom  of  Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  Sept.  14. 

253.  Stephen  Bishop  of  Rome. 
Cyprian  de  Mortalitate. 

Gallus    slain,    and    succeeded    by   Valerian    and    his    son 

Gallienus. 
Origen  dies. 
256.  Persecution  under  Valerian  at  the  end  of  this  year,  lasts  three 

years. 

258.  S.  Xystus,  Bishop  of  Rome,  martyred,  Aug.  6  ;  succeeded  by 

Dionysius. 
S.  Laurence,  Archdeacon  of  Rome,  martyr,  Aug.  10. 
S.  Hippolytus,  martyr,  perhaps  Aug.  13  in  this  year. 
S.  Cyprian  martyr,  Sept.  14. 

259.  Dionysius  Bishop  of  Rome. 

260.  The  Emperor  Valerian  taken  captive  by  Sapor,  King  of  the 

Persians. 
Paul  of  Samosata,  Bishop  of  Antioch. 
263 — 268.  Porphyry,  scholar  of  Plotinus,  at  Rome. 
264.  First  Council  of  Antioch  against  Paul  of  Samosata,  Bishop 

of  Antioch  (see  chap.  xxiv.). 

268.  Gallienus  slain  ;  succeeded  by  Claudius  Gothius. 

269.  Council  of  Antioch  against  Paul  of  Samosata,  who  is  deposed, 

but  is  supported  by  Zenobia,  Queen  of  Palmyra. 
Felix  Bishop  of  Rome. 

270.  Gallus  dies  ;  is  succeeded  by  Aurelian. 
Porphyry  writes  against  Christianity. 

272.  The  Emperor  Aurelian  defeats  Zenobia ;  confirms  the  sentence 

of  the  Council  against  Paul  of  Samosata. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


A.D. 


273.  Longinus,  the  Author  of  the  Treatise   on  the  Sublime,  and 

friend  of  Zenobia,  dies. 
275.  Aurelian  slain  ;  succeeded  by  Tacitus,  who  is  succeeded  liy 

Probus  in  276. 
Eutychianus  Bishop  of  Rome. 
282.  Probus  slain  ;  succeeded  by  Carus  and  his  sons. 

'2'^Z.  Caius  Bishop  of  Rome. 

284.  Diocletianusjovius  succeeds,  who 

285.  associates  Maximinus  Heraclius  with  himself  as  Augustus 

(Era  of  Martyrs.) 
292.  Constantius  Chlorus' (father  of  Constantine)  and  Galerius  are 

declared  Caesars. 
296.  Marcellinus  Bishop  of  Rome. 

303.  Edict  for  general  Persecution  of  Christians  throughout  the  Em- 

pire, published  by  Diocletian  and  Galerius  at  Nicomedia. 

304.  Porphyry  writes  Life  of  Plotinus. 

305.  Diocletian  and  Maximian  abdicate. 
Comparative  Peace  of  the  Church. 
Council  of  Eliberis  (Elvira)  in  Spain. 

306.  Constantius,  father  of  Constantine,  dies  at  York,  July  15. 

307.  Constantine  assumes  the  title  of  Augustus. 
Lactantius  writes  his  Institutiones  between  307  and  310. 

308.  Marcellus  Bishop  of  Rome. 

310.  Death  of  Maximian. 
Eusebius  Bishop  of  Rome. 

311.  Death  of  Galerius. 

Maxentius  persecutes  the  Church. 
Miltiades  (or  Melchiades)  Bishop  of  Rome. 

312.  Edict  of  Toleration  of  the  Church  published  at  Milan  by 

Constantine  and  Licinius. 
Constantine  marches  towards  Rome  against  Maxentius. 
"  Vision  of  the  Cross,"  Oct.  26. 

Oct.  27.     Maxentius  defeated  and  drowned  in  the  Tiber. 
Constantine  enters  Rome  in  Triumph. 
313-  Edicts  favourable  to  Christianity  published  by  Constantine. 

Council  at  Rome. 
314.  Silvester  Bishop  of  Rome  to  a.d.  335. 

Council  of  Aries. 
,,  Ancyra. 

.,,  Neo-Coesarea  (chap.  xxiv.). 

316.  Csecilian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  opposed  by  the  Donatists.     On 

the  case  of  Ca^cilian,  see  chap.  xxiv. 
317—321.  Laws  favourable  to  Christians. 

Observance  of  Lord's  Day  (see  below,  chap.  xxiv.). 


xxxii  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

A.D. 

319.  Arianism  Alexandria. 

323.  Licinius  is  defeated  at  Adrianople. 

324.  Constantine  sole  Emperor. 

325.  Other  Laws  favourable  to  Christianity. 

Council  of  Nic^a  from  the  middle  of  June  (perhaps  June  19) 
to  the  25th  of  August. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Oil  the  Foundation,  Constitntion,  Design,  Office,  History^ 
and  Consummation  of  the  Christian  Chnirh. 

There  is  One  Church  of  God  from  the  becrinnincf  of 
the  world  to  the  end.  In  Paradise,  after  the  Fall, 
under  the  Patriarchs,  under  the  Levitical  Law,  after 
the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  even  to  His 
Second  Advent,  the  Church  has  been,  is,  and  ever 
will  be,  one.  Ploly  men  before  His  Coming  believed 
in  Christ  to  come  ;  holy  men  after  His  Coming  be- 
lieved in  Him  having  come.  The  times  of  the  Church 
have  changed  ;  her  faith  is  always  the  same. 

At  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Church 
acquired  UniversaHty  in  time  and  space,  and  became 
partaker  of  the  Divine  Nature  by  her  mystical  union 
with  Him  as  His  Bride,  and  as  Queen  at  His  right 
hand,  and  was  admitted  to  an  inheritance  and  partner- 
ship in  that  kingdom  which  will  never  be  destroyed. 

The  Eternal  Son  of  God,  Who  was  made  very  Man, 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  spiritual  building  of  His 
Church  on  Himself.  "  Other  foundation  can  no  mart 
lay  than  that  which  is  laid  (or  rather  which  lieth  *) , 
which  is  Jesus  Christ,"  says  St.  Paul. 

The  Church  was  not  built  up  during  Christ's 
earthly  ministry.     He  speaks   of  that  building  up  as 

'  rhv  Kdi^evoy,  I  Cof.  iii.  II. 

B 


2  CHRIST'S  PROMISES  TO  THE  CHURCH. 

future.  Having  put  the  question  to  His  Apostles, 
"  Whom  do  men  say  that  I,  the  Son  of  Man,  am  ?  " 
and  having  elicited  from  St.  Peter  the  good  confession 
that  He  Who  is  Son  of  Man  (that  is,  verily  and 
really  Man,  with  a  human  body,  soul,  and  spirit)  is 
also  the  Christ,  the  Messiah,  the  Anointed  One,  the 
promised  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King,  and  is  also  the 
Son  of  the  Living  Gody — Everlasting  Son  of  Ever- 
lasting Father, — He  declared  that  on  this  Rock,  that  is, 
on  Hi^nself^- — confessed  to  be  God  and  Man,  and  to  be 
the  Christ, — He  Himself  would  build  up  His  Church, — 
"On  this  Rock  /  will  build  My  Church."  The 
Church  is  My  Church,  not  Man's  ;  its  building  up.  He 
said,  was  still  future,  and  He  would  build  it  up  upon 
Himself. 

He  revealed  to  His  Disciples  also  at  the  same 
time  that  the  Church  would  have  many  enemies, — 
Spiritual  Powers,  going  forth  from  tJie  Gates  of  hell  to 
assail  it ;  and  that  though  they  were  mighty,  and 
their  assaults  would  be  violent  and  continuous,  they 
would  never  prevail  against  it. 

He  declared  also  that  He  would  send  the  Holy 
Ghost  the  Comforter,  to  teach  the  Church  all  things,  to 
guide  it  into  all  tnUh,  and  to  abide  zvith  it  for  ever ;  ^  and 
that  He  Himself  would  be  with  it  always  (literally  all 
days)  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.^ 

It  might  perhaps  have  been  anticipated  that  the 
Church,  having  this  constitution  and  these  assurances, 
would  have  been  preserved  pure  and  holy  without  ad- 
mixture of  error  in  doctrine,  or  viciousness  of  life. 

But  her  Divine  Head  warned  her  against  such  a 

2  Matt.  xvi.  i8.  The  authorities  for  this  exposition  maybe  seen  in 
my  notes  on  the  passage. 

3  John  xiv.  i6,  26  ;  xvi.  13.  •*  Matt,  xxviii.  20. 


HIS  PROPHECIES  CONCERNING  IT.  3 

supposition.  He  taught  her  that  during  the  whole 
of  her  continuance  on  earth,  evil  would  be  mingled 
with  good,  and  that  not  till  the  consummation  of  all 
things  would  the  severance  be  made. 

This  mixed  and  imperfect  condition  of  the  Church, 
the  "  kingdom  of  heaven "  upon  Earth  ;  and  the 
endeavours  of  "  the  Enemy,"  the  Devil,  to  gain 
dominion  in  it  and  over  it,  by  taking  advantage  of  the 
failings  of  men  who  would  sleep  when  they  ought  to 
watch ;  and  the  full,  final,  and  eternal  separation  of 
the  Evil  from  the  Good  at  the  end  of  the  world,  are 
represented  by  Our  Lord  in  His  Parables,  especially 
in  that  of  the  Tares  and  the  Wheat  in  the  same  field, 
His  Field  ;  ^  and  of  the  good  fish  and  the  bad  fish  in 
the  same  net;*^  and  in  His  prophecy  concerning  the 
future  Resurrection  of  all  men,  and  of  the  universal 
Judgment  at  the  Great  Day,  when  He,  Who  is  Son  of 
Man,  will  come  in  His  Glory,  and  as  King  will  sit  on 
the  throne  of  His  Glory,  and  will  separate  the  wicked 
from  the  righteous,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep 
from  the  goats,  and  will  consign  the  wicked  to  "  ever- 
lasting punishment,"  and  receive  the  righteous  to  life 
everlasting.^ 

For  this  Church,  His  Bride,  He  died  upon  the  Cross  : 
He  cleansed  her  and  purchased  her  with  His  own 
blood.^  Almighty  God  in  Paradise  formed  (literally  ^/^///, 
Hebr.,  Gen.  ii.  23)  Eve,  the  Bride  of  Adam,  from  the 
side  of  Adam  as  he  slept,  and  she  became  "  the  mother 
of  all  living''  (Gen.  iii.  20).  So  the  spiritual  Eve,  the 
Church,  the  Bride  of  the  Second  Adam,  "  Who  is  the 

•^  Matt.  xiii.  24 — 30,  36—43. 
^  Matt.  xiii.  47,  48. 
"  Matt.  XXV.  31 — 46. 

^  Acts  XX.  28 ;  Eph.  v.  25,  26  ;   i  Pet.  i.  2  ;   i  John  i.  7. 
B    2 


4  CHRIST'S  ACTS  AND  SAYINGS 

Lord  from  heaven"  (i  Cor.  xv.  47),  and  the  Author 
of  the  new,  regenerate  race,  was  formed  from  Christ, 
the  Second  Adam,  sleeping  in  death  on  the  cross,  and 
she  owes  her  Hfe  ^  to  the  sacramental  streams  of  Blood 
and  Water  which  then  issued  from  His  side  ;  and  by 
her  union  with  Him,  and  by  the  ministry  of  the  Word 
and  Sacraments  instituted  by  Him,  she  imparts  the 
life  to  all  which  she  receives  from  her  Lord. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  universal  King  to  whom  *'  all  power 
is  given  in  heaven  and  in  earth"  (Matt,  xxviii.  18), 
and  His  Bride,  the  Church,  is  the  Queen  at  His  right 
hand  (Ps.  xlv.  9). 

In  the  interval  of  forty  days  between  His  Resurrec- 
tion and  Ascension  into  heaven,  Christ  did  not  abide 
with  His  disciples  continually,  but  appeared  to  them 
from  time  to  time,  '*  showing  Himself  to  them  alive,'' 
that  is,  assuring  them  of  His  real  Humanity  and  per- 
sonal identity;  while  by  His  sudden  appearances  in  the 
midst  of  them,  and  as  sudden  disappearing  from  them, 
He  proved  to  them  His  divine  power,  and  the  spiritual 
nature  of  His.  risen  Body. 

At  the  same  time,  by  that  intercourse  with  them 
He  trained  them  in  all  necessary  knov/ledge  concern- 
ing His  mystical  Body,  "  the  kUigdom  of  heavc7i  " 
(Acts  i.  3),  and  prepared  and  qualified  them  to  be  His 
agents  in  building  up  His  Church. 

All  His  acts  in  those  forty  days  were  conducive  to 
these  purposes.  In  His  walk  to  Emmaus,  and  in  His 
subsequent  appearance  to  the  assembled  disciples  in 
the  upper  room  at  Jerusalem  on  the  evening  of  His 
Resurrection,  He  authenticated  tJie  Cano7i  of  the  Holy 

^  Her  name  (KwpiaKry)  marks  that  her  life  is  derived  from  her  Lord 
(KiVtos),  as  Eve  was  called  Is/ia/i,  woman,  because  she  was  taken  out  of 
man  [Ish),  Gen.  ii.  33. 


AFTER  HIS  RESURRECTION,  5 

Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament, — '*  Moses  and  the 
Prophets,"  '*  Moses,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Psalms  " 
(see  on  Luke  xxiv.  27,  44),  and  avouched  their  divine 
truth  and  inspiration. 

At  the  same  time  He  gave  to  His  disciples  the  key 
to  the  true  i}itcrp7'etation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  as 
bearing  witness  to  Himself,  His  sufferings,  and  His 
glory  (Luke  xxiv.  26,  27,  44—46). 

He  also  gave  them  2.  ministerial connnissio7i\.o  x^m\\. 
and  retain  sins  ;  and  by  breathing  on  them,  and  saying, 
"  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost,"  He  declared  to  them 
from  what  fountain  the  virtue  of  that  Commission  was 
derived,  namely  from  Himself,  Who  would  send  to 
them  the  fulness  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to 
dwell  in  them  and  their  successors  for  ever,  and  to 
enable  and  qualify  them  for  their  work  (John  xx.  22, 
23).  He  also  set  His  own  Divine  seal  on  the  com- 
mission of  the  Apostolic  Ministry  appointed  by  Him 
to  dispense  the  Word  and  Sacraments  to  every  age, 
and  in  every  clime,  by  saying,  "  Go  ye  and  teach  " — 
make  disciples  of — "  all  nations."  And  He  declared 
that  the  appointed  entrance  for  admission  into  His 
Church  is  by  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  into  the  Name 
of  the  Ever-Blessed  Trinity  in  Unity,  that  is,  by  pro- 
fession of  Faith  and  Obedience  to  One  God, — One 
Name  in  Three  distinct  Persons,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  "teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  "  (Matt. 
xxvdii.  19,  20). 

He  spoke  of  the  gradual  extension  of  their  mission, 
"  Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
come  upon  }ou,  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me 
both  in  Jcrtisalcm,  and  ifi  all  Jjidcea,  and  in  Samaria^ 
and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  "  (Acts  i.  8). 


6  CHRIST  AND  MOSES. 

He  foretold  the  future  success  of  that  ministry  by 
the  miraculous  draught  of  the  Jmndred  and  fifty-three ' 
great  fishes,  drawn  to  the  shore  in  an  unbroken  Ner; 
and  representing  the  future  bringing  together  of  the 
Elect,  in  the  Unity  of  the  Faith  of  the  Church,  by  the 
net  of  Apostolic  preaching,  to  the  shore  of  Everlasting 
Life. 

Under  the  Old  Dispensation,  after  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  Moses  had  received  in  the  mount  the 
pattern  of  the  Levitical  Tabernacle  and  its  furniture 
(Exod.  xxiv.  1 8  ;  xxxiv.  28.  Deut.  ix.  9),  and  was 
commanded  to  make  all  things  according  to  that 
pattern  ;  and  he  gave  instructions  to  its  workmen,  the 
Bezaleels  and  Aholiabs  of  the  Sanctuary,  for  that 
purpose  (Exod.  xxv.  40  ;  xxvi.  30.  Num.  viii.  4.  Acts 
vii.  44.     Heb.  viii.  5). 

Similarly  Jesus  Christ,  our  divine  Moses,  after  an 
interval  of  forty  days,  when  He  had  ascended  into 
heaven,  received  and  delivered  the  pattern  of  His 
Church.  And  on  the  fiftieth  day,  the  day  fore- 
shadowed by  the  first  Pentecost  or  fiftieth  day  which 
followed  the  first  Passover,  and  on  which  the  Law 
engraven  on  stones  was  given  from  Mount  Sinai, 
He  gave  the  Holy  Spirit  to  write  the  Evangelical 
Law  on  the  "  fleshy  tables  of  their  hearts,"  and  to 


'  The  number  153  =  144  +  9.  144  is  the  square  of  12,  the  Apostolic 
number  ;  and  9  is  the  square  of  3,  the  number  of  the  Persons  of  the  Ever- 
Blessed  Trinity.  The  number  153  may  perhaps  represent  the  per- 
fected number  of  the  Elect,  who  hold  the  faith  of  the  Ever-Blessed 
Trinity,  and  who  have  been  gathered  together  by  the  Net  of  Apostolic 
preaching.  So,  perhaps,  the  nvunber  144,000  in  Rev.  vii.  i — 9,  the  square 
of  12  multiplied  by  100,  represents  the  perfected  number  of  those  of  all 
nations  who  hold  the  Apostolic  doctrine  and  discipline.  The  Apostolic 
number  itself,  12=3  X  4,  may  represent  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
preached  everywhere  to  the  4  corners  of  the  earth. 


THE  CHURCH  BUILT  UP  AT  PENTECOST.  7 

enable  them  to  build  up  and  to  furnish  the  Tabernacle 
of  the  Universal  Church. 

On  the  day  of  the  first  Christian  Pentecost,  the 
prophecy  of  the  Lord  was  fulfilled,  "  On  this  Rock 
I  will  build  My  Church."  On  that  day  the  Church 
Universal  was  built  up.  The  Day  of  Pentecost  was 
celebrated  by  the  Apostles  as  the  Coronation  Day  of 
Christ  as  King,  and  as  the  inauguration  of  His  King- 
dom by  acts  of  Divine  Power  and  by  royal  gifts  and 
largesses  of  Divine  Love  to  men.  "  He  ascended  far 
above  all  heavens"  (says  St.  Paul,  Eph.  iv.  lo — 12), 
"  that  He  might  fill  all  things  ;  and  He  gave  some 
(to  be)  Apostles,  and  some  Prophets,  and  some 
Evangelists,  and  some  Pastors  and  Teachers,  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ,'^  i.  e.  for  the 
building  up  of  the  Church  Universal. 

In  another  passage  which  deserves  careful  attention, 
in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  Timothy, 
St.  Paul  describes  the  character  and  office  of  the 
Church  (i  Tim.  iii.  15).  The  Church,  he  says,  is  the 
House  of  God,  wherein  He  dwells.  It  is  the  Church 
(not  of  any  man,  but)  of  the  Living  God.  Its  charac- 
ter as  being  always  visible^  and  as  a  guide  to  lead 
men  to  heaven,  by  being  settled  and  grounded  on 
Christ  its  Rock,  is  described  by  the  Apostle's  word 
cj-TuXo?  {pillar), — the  word  always  applied  in  the  Greek 
Version  to  the  Pillar  of  Cloud  and  Fire  which  led 
the  Israelites  through  the  wilderness  to  Canaan, — and 
as  khpalwfiay  not  an  independent  foundation,  but  as  a 
pedestal  settled  {ehpaaOh)  on  Him  Who  is  the  only 
Foundation,  which  is  Christ  (i  Cor.  iii.  ii).  And  the 
Church  performs  these  offices,  in  supporting,  main- 
taining,  and  visibly   displaying   the   true    Canon   of 


8  CHRIST  AND  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

ScripUire,  and  also  as  setting  forth  the  true  inter- 
pretation of  Scripture,  in  her  Creeds ;  and  as  ever 
guarding-,  maintaining,  and  dispensing  the  Word  of 
God  and  Sacraments  by  a  visible  Apostolic  ministry. 

What,  therefore,  the  Apostles  did  after  the  Day 
of  Pentecost,  when  they  were  baptized  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  (Acts  i.  5  ;  xi.  i6)  sent  down  from  heaven 
by  Christ  "to  teach  them  all  things,  and  to  guide 
them  into  all  truth,"  and  to  enable  them  to  do  the 
work  He  had  given  them  to  do,  is  to  be  regarded  as 
the  work  of  CHRIST  Himself,  and  of  the  HOLY 
Spirit  acting  in  them  and  by  them  ;  and  as  a  work, 
therefore,  having  Divine  Authority. 

Such  an  act  was  the  appointment  and  ordination 
o(  the  seven  Deaeons  (Acts  vi.  3 — 7)  for  the  completion 
of  the  Christian  Ministry. 

Such  an  act  was  the  Mijiistration  of  Confirmation 
by  the  laying  on  of  Apostolic  hands  with  prayer 
for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  those  who  had  been 
baptized  (Acts  viii.  14 — 17  ;  xix.  5 — 12). 

Such  an  act  was  the  extension  of  the  Apostolate 
by  the  Consecration  of  Barnabas  and  Sanl  as  Apostles 
at  the  bidding  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (Acts  xiii.  2). 

Such  an  act  was  the  assembling  of  a  Co n^tcil  o(  the 
Apostles  and  Elders  for  the  settlement  of  a  contro- 
versy in  the  Church  (Acts  xv.  2 — 29). 

Accordingly,  after  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  we  no  loyiger 
read  of  the  Church  as  a  thing ////// ;r,  but  as  in  being 
and  action,  as  the  mystical  body  of  Christ  into  which 
men  are  to  be  incorporated,  and  in  which  they  arc  to 
receive  the  means  of  grace  and  everlasting  salvation. 
**  The  Lord  added  "  {ivas  adding)  "  to  the  C/mrch  daily 
such  as  should  be  saved  "  (such  as  were  being  saved, 
or  saving  themselves,  aco^o/jievov^)  by  fleeing  from  the 


ACTING  IN  AND  BY  THE  APOSTLES.  9 

wrath  to  come,  and  by  gladly  embracing  God's  offers 
of  salvation. 

The  description  given  of  such  persons  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  Holy  Scripture  is  this, — let  us  mark  it  well, — 
"  They  that  gladly  received  the  Word,  zvere  baptized ; 
and  they  were  contiiniing  stedfastly  in  the  Apostles' 
doctrme  (i.  e.  in  their  teaching  on  matters  of  faith  and 
practice  and  worship)  ajid  fellowship  (i.  e.  in  visible 
communion  with  the  Apostles),  aJid  in  the  breaking  of 
the  bread  (i.  e.  in  the  reception  of  the  Holy  Sacrament 
of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ),  and  in  the  prayers',' 
i.  e.  the  public  Liturgy  of  the  Church  (Acts  ii.  42). 

The  future  destinies  of  the  Church  from  the  As- 
cension of  Christ  to  the  time  of  His  Second  Coming 
to  judge  the  world,  and  to  put  all  things  under  His 
feet,  and  to  receive  her  into  His  everlasting  glory, 
are  unfolded  by  Him  in  the  Book  of  Revelation  of 
the  beloved  disciple,  the  Apostle  and  Evangelist  St. 
John. 

Jesus  Christ  is  there  seen  as  the  Great  High  Priest 
walking  amidst  the  seven  Golden  Candlesticks  or 
Lampstands  (seven  being  a  number  of  perfection) 
which  represent  the  Churches  making  up  the  Church 
Universal.  He  there  describes  Himself  as  knowing 
their  works^'  and  as  promising  a  future  reward  to 
every  one  that  oiwrcometh  (intimating  the  future 
struggle  of  all  true  Christians)  ;  and  He  there  exhorts 
all  to  Jiear  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the  Churches. 

He  reveals  in  the  vision  of  the  seven  seals  in  the 
Apocalypse  the  various  forms  of  enmity  which  will 
assail  Himself,  represented  as  the  Rider  on  the  White 

'  See  on  Revelation,  chaps,  ii,  and  iii.,  and  the  passages  quoted  in 
p.  172  of  the  Author's  Commentary. 


10  FUTURE  CONFLICTS 

Horse,  and  His  Church,  in  successive  ages  to  the  end. 
And  in  the  seventh  or  last  seal  He  displays  the  future 
everlasting  glory  of  the  innumerable  company  of  the 
sealed,  that  is,  the  elect  Saints  of  God  from  every  age 
and  clime  (Rev.  vi.  and  vii.). 

In  the  Twelfth  Chapter  of  the  Apocalypse  (Rev. 
xii.  I,  2)  is  a  sublime  and  significant  representation  of 
the  Church.  She  is  displayed  there  as  a  woman, — the 
Spiritual  Eve,  the  Bride  of  Christ.  She  is  in  heaven, 
for  her  origin  and  home  is  there.  She  is  clothed  zvith 
the  Snn,  because  her  light  and  glory  is  from  Christ  the 
"  Sun  of  Righteonsnessl'  in  Whom  she  dwells  by  a 
perfect  mystical  union  (Mai.  iv.  2).  She  has  the  Moon 
tmder  her  feet,  for  she  will  survive  all  the  changes  and 
chances  of  this  sublunary  world.  She  has  on  Jier  head 
a  crow7i  of  twelve  stars,  for  she  wears  visibly  as  her 
diadem  of  victory  and  glory  the  bright  coronal  of  the 
doctrine  and  discipline  delivered  by  Christ  to  His 
twelve  Apostles,  and  by  them  to  her. 

The  various  successive  assaults  of  the  Enemies  of 
the  Church  are  revealed  in  larger  proportions  and 
in  minuter  details,  in  following  chapters  of  the 
Apocalypse,  in  order  that  the  Church  may  be  pre- 
pared for  fierce  oppositions  and  persecutions,  especially 
as  the  world  draws  near  to  its  close. 

The  reader  may  here  be  invited  to  remember  that 
the  history  of  the  conflict  between  the  Kingdom  of 
Light,  the  Church,  and  the  Empire  of  Darkness,  the 
World  and  the  Evil  One,  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  time,  has  been  traced  with  a  master's  hand  by 
the  great  African  Bishop  and  Doctor  of  the  Church, 
S.  Augustine,  in  his  last  grand  work  "  On  the  City  of 
God,"  as  opposed  to  the  City  of  this  World. 


AND  FINAL  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  11 

Long  and  hard  will  be  the  struggle.  But  the  time 
will  at  length  come,  when  the  White  Throne  will  be 
set,  and  the  Judge  will  sit  upon  it,  "  and  the  dead  will 
be  raised  small  and  great,"  and  "  the  Books  will  be 
opened,"  and  "  every  one  will  be  judged  according  to 
his  works,  from  those  things  that  are  written  in  the 
Books"  (Rev.  xx.  ii,  12). 

Then  the  voice  will  be  heard,  "  The  Kingdoms  of 
this  world  are  become  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
of  His  Christ"  (Rev.  xi.  15),  and,  "The  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  reignetli,  KING  of  kings  and  LoRD  of 
lords  "  (Rev.  xix.  6).  Then  Satan  and  Death  and  the 
Grave  will  have  no  more  power  over  His  people,  but 
be  subdued  for  evermore ;  and  the  beauty  and  bliss 
of  the  heavenly  City  will  be  revealed,  and  the  Church 
of  the  sanctified  will  rise  up  triumphant,  and  become 
the  Church  of  the  glorified  ;  and  ''  God  will  be  all  in 
all "  (I  Cor.  XV.  2Z), 


CHAPTER  II. 

On  previojis  Providential  Preparations  for  the  Work  of 
the  Church  in  the  World,  and  on  her  Use  of  them. 

The  prophet  Daniel  is  described  by  St.  Jerome  (ad 
Paullinum,  Ep.  103)  as  "  conscious  of  all  times,  and  as 
the  historian  of  the  whole  world  "  (omnium  temporum 
conscius  et  totius  mundi  polyhistor);  and  Daniel 
treats  the  World's  history  as  preparatory  to  that  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  and  as  having  its  consummation 
in  the  future  universal  triumph  of  Christ  and  His 
Church.  He  does  this  in  two  visions  ;  that  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar's dream  in  his  second  chapter  ;  and  that 
of  the  four  Beasts  in  the  seventh  chapter. 

In  each  of  these  two  visions  is  a  prophecy  of  four 
great  successive  Empires  of  the  World,  the  Babylonian, 
the  Medo-Persian,  the  Grecian,  and  the  Roman,  to  be 
followed  and  absorbed  by  a  fifth,  heavenly  Monarchy, 
the  Church  of  Christ,  the  kingdom  which  will  over- 
throw all  who  oppose  it,  and  the  only  kingdom  which 
will  be  universal,  and  which  "  will  never  be  destroyed  " 
(Dan.  ii.  35,  44  ;  vii.  14,  27).  The  acts  of  these  four 
great  Earthly  Empires,  even  those  acts  which  seemed 
most  unfavourable  to  the  cause  of  divine  Truth,  were 
controlled  and  overruled  by  God  to  be  providential 
preparations  for  the  work  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

The  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  dispersion  of 


EARTHL  Y EMPIRES  PREPARA  TOR  V  TO  THE  CHURCH.  13 

the  Jews  by  the  power  of  Babylon, — Hke  the  previous 
dispersion  of  the  Ten  Tribes  by  that  of  Assyria, — 
were  made  ministerial  to  the  diffusion  and  manifesta- 
tion of  Divine  Truth. 

These  events  were  marvellous  fulfilments  of  divine 
prophecies  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  testified  its  truth 
and  inspiration  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ;  and  confirmed 
the  faithful  in  the  hope  that  the  other  prophecies  in 
the  same  Scripture,  especially  concerning  the  Coming 
of  Christ  and  the  universal  extension  of  His  Church, 
would  be  fulfilled  likewise. 

The  miraculous  attestation  to  the  True  Faith  by 
God's  interference  on  behalf  of  the  Three  Children 
in  the  fiery  furnace  at  Babylon,  and  of  his  faithful 
servant  Daniel  in  the  den  of  lions,— the  prophet  who 
testified  of  Christ,— these  called  the  attention  of  the 
Eastern  World  to  their  testimony,  and  to  the  power 
of  their  God. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Jews  necessitated  the  multi- 
plication  of  copies  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  ;  and  this 
multiplication  of  copies  secured  \\\^  integrity  of  the  Text 
of  those  Scriptures.  Therefore  the  Jews  (being  every- 
where dispersed)  are  called  by  S.  Augustine  the 
guardians  and  transcribers  and  porters  of  the  Scrip- 
tures for  the  future  benefit  of  the  Church  (S.  Augus- 
tine, ii.  6io;  iv.  501,760;  viii.  391). 

The  Mosaic  institution  of  the  three  yearly  festivals, 
which — while  the  Hebrew  Temple  stood,  and  after  it 
was  restored  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  Second 
Empire,  in  the  decree  of  Cyrus  the  Persian — drew  the 
scattered  members  of  the  Hebrew  nation  periodically 
to  Jerusalem  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  on  those 
Festivals,  was  a  providential  pre-arrangement  for  the 
spread  of  the  Evangelical  truths  announced  on  the  day 


14  HEBREW  AND  GREEK  INSTITUTIONS 

of  Pentecost  by  the  Apostles,  and  on  other  yearly 
festivals,  unto  all  nations. 

The  Temple  of  Jerusalem  was  mercifully  spared  for 
forty  years  after  the  commission  of  the  sin  of  which 
its  rulers  had  been  guilty  in  the  Crucifixion  of  Christ, 
in  order  to  be  a  rallying-point  for  those  periodical 
annual  pilgrimages  of  devout  Jews  from  all  regions  of 
the  earth,  who  thus  became  pioneers  and  missionaries 
of  Christianity. 

Among  those  devout  men  who  listened  to  St.  Peter's 
sermon  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  and  were  baptized 
(Acts  ii.  5 — 41),  the  first  mentioned  are  those  who  came 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  Babylon,  the  ancient  enemy 
of  God  and  His  people,  and  from  the  countries  where 
the  Hebrew  tribes  were  dispersed,  "  Parthians,  Medes, 
andElamites^  and  the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia !'  The 
tribes  flowed  up  from  all  countries  in  periodic  tides  to 
Jerusalem,  and  in  their  periodical  ebb  from  it  they  bore 
the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  into  all  lands. 

The  institution  of  a  weekly  Sabbath  was  a  divine 
preparation  for  Christianity,  especially  where  Syna- 
gogues had  been  erected  for  the  weekly  assembling  of 
Jews-in  all  parts  of  the  World  on  that  Day.  By  their 
means  the  preachers  of  Christianity  found  an  audience 
everywhere  ready-made,  and  gathered  together,  and 
listening  to  the  "  voices  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets 
read  in  those  Synagogues  every  Sabbath  Day " 
(Acts  xiii.  27  ;  xv.  21),  and  supplying,  therefore,  those 
very  documents,  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament, 
on  which  they,  the  Apostles,  and  Apostolic  Missionaries, 
grounded  those  Sermons  on  behalf  of  Christianity, 
which  they  preached  in  those  Synagogues  in  those 
weekly  assemblies  (see  Acts  ix.  20  ;  xiii.  14—44  ; 
xiv.  I  ;  xvii.  i,  2  ;  xix.  8). 


PREPARATORY  TO  THE  CHURCH.  15 

The  third  great  worldly  Empire  gave  additional 
impulse  to  these  preparatory  provisions.  That  Empire, 
the  Greek,  diffused  the  Greek  language  in  Asia  and 
Africa  by  means  of  the  conquests  of  Alexander  the 
Great  and  his  successors.  One  of  these,  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  (about  B.C.  280),  commanded  a  Trajisla- 
Hon  to  be  made  of  the  Five  Books  of  Moses,  a  Trans- 
lation made  by  Hebrew  Interpreters,  and  one,  there- 
fore, to  which,  when  quoted  by  Christians,  the  Jews 
could  not  reasonably  take  exception.  And  in  process 
of  time  the  whole  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  con- 
signed to  the  Greek  Version,  called  the  Septnagint,  and 
thus  became  known  to  the  Greek  and  Asiatic  world. 

The  diffusion  of  the  Greek  language,  and  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  in  a  Greek  Version  which  was  read 
on  the  weekly  Sabbath  in  the  Synagogues  of  Greece, 
Asia,  and  Africa,  and  probably  in  some  of  Italy,  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  readier  circulation  and  reception 
of  the  New  Testament,  written  in  the  same  language, 
the  Greek,  the  universal  language  of  the  civilized 
world.  "  The  Roman  tongue,"  says  Cicero  (pro  Archia, 
c.  23),  "  is  confined  within  comparatively  narrow 
limits,  but  Greek  is  familiar  to  all." 

Other  means  of  communication  had  been  pro- 
videntially opened  out  for  Christianity  by  the  third 
and  fourth  Great  Empires,  the  Empires  of  Greece  and 
Rome. 

The  Greek  Empire,  in  its  great  commercial  cities 
and  colonies  in  Greece,  Asia,  and  Egypt,  had  facili- 
tated national  intercourse  by  sea.  The  Roman  Empire, 
by  its  great  military  roads,  accelerated  that  intercourse 
by  land.  Greece  and  Rome  navigated  and  stratified 
the  world  ;  Christianity  profited  by  their  acts,  and 
evangelized  it.      The  mention  in  the  Acts  of  the  two 


16  GREECE  AND  ROME  MINISTERIAL  TO  THE  CHURCH. 

Alexandrine  vessels,  bringing  St.  Paul  and  St.  Luke 
to  Malta  and  Italy  (Acts  xxvii.  6  ;  xxviii.),  and  the 
record  of  the  Appia7i  Way,  the  "  Queen  of  Roads  " 
(Acts  xxviii.  15),  bearing  them  on  to  Rome,  are  sugges- 
tive to  the  thoughtful  reader,  of  pious  reflections  on 
God's  designs,  using  the  world's  commercial  enterprise 
and  engineering  skill  for  His  own  gracious  purposes 
in  Christianizing  the  world. 

The  arms  of  Greece  and  Rome,  subjugating  other 
nations,  and  leading  captive  their  deities,  had  also  the 
effect  of  shaking  their  national  faith  in  the  power  of 
their  ow7i  local  gods  to  protect  them  against  their 
assailants,  and  of  undermining  the  foundations  of 
Polytheism.  It  prepared  them  to  accept  the  nobler 
and  more  rational  belief  in  One  Supreme  God  of  all 
nations,  when  preached  by  the  Apostles  of  Christ. 

The  four  Great  Empires  of  the  World  were  enemies 
of  the  true  God,  and  yet,  under  His  controlling  and 
overruling  power,  they  were  made,  unconsciously,  to 
be  instrumental,  as  we  have  seen,  in  preparing  the  way 
for  the  establishment  and  extension  and  final  triumph 
of  the  fifth  Great  Monarchy,  the  only  indestructible 
and  universal  Monarchy,  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

Here  are  evidences  of  God's  wisdom  and  power  in 
governing  the  universe,  while  He  allows  the  exercise 
of  liberty  to  man  ;  here  are  proofs  that  Christianity  is 
the  aim  and  end  of  His  dealings  with  mankind  ;  here 
are  assurances,  that,  whatever  nations  may  devise  for 
their  own  aggrandizement,  and  however  forgetful  they 
may  be  of  His  divine  majesty  and  mercy,  they  will 
not  be  able  to  exalt  themselves,  or  to  maintain  their 
own  dominion,  but  will  be  made  subservient  to  His 
purposes  for  the  advancement  of  His  glory,  and  for 
the  eternal  welfare  of  His  people. 


CHAPTER  III. 

On    the    Preparations    for     Christianity — Religious, 
PJiilosophicaly  Intellectiialy  Moral,  and  Social. 

We  have  been  considering  the  providential  prepara- 
tions for  Christianity  in  the  history  of  the  four  great 
Monarchies  which  preceded  it.  But  while  their  acts 
were  being  exhibited  in  the  great  theatre  of  the  world, 
many  powers  were  at  work  in  the  inner  life  of  men 
and  nations  which  were  ministerial  to  the  same  end. 

When  Christianity  appeared,  the  vital  energies  of 
the  old  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  well-nigh 
effete,  and  had  ceased  to  exercise  their  influence 
on  the  higher  and  more  intelligent  classes  of 
Society. 

Greek  literature  and  philosophy  undermined  the 
faith  of  Rome,  and  tended  to  diffuse  scepticisrfi.  The 
philosophical  systems  introduced  from  Greece  had 
little  influence  on  the  multitude,  and  did  nothing  to 
improve  their  moral  practice.  And  even  among  their 
own  professors,  they  broke  down  under  the  trials  of 
life.  Stoicism  was  indeed  the  antithesis  of  Epicure- 
anism, in  that  it  was  an  attempt  to  reconcile  philo- 
sophy with  religion,  whereas  Epicureanism  divorced 
the  one  from  the  other.  But  it  was  equally  fatal  to 
Belief  with  Epicureanism.  Epicurus  banished  the 
gods  out  of  the  world  ;  the  Stoics  identified  the  deity 

•     C 


18  MORAL  FAILURE  OF  PHILOSOPHY. 

with  the  world,  and  shut  him  up  there  as  in  a  prison, 
and  bound  him  with  the  chains  of  fatalism. 

"Jupiter  est  quodcunque  vides,  quocunqiie  moveris," 

said  Lucan's  Cato  (i.  580)/ 

The  Stoic  Seneca,  who  ridiculed  the  "ignoble  rabble 
of  gods,"^  affirmed  that  his  wise  man  was  only  inferior 
to  Jupiter  himself,  the  king  of  gods,  in  duration  of 
existence.  Such  was  his  proud  boast  (Epist.  73). 
But  how  little  effect  had  this  upon  practice.  How 
pitiful  are  the  moanings  of  Seneca  in  his  exile  in 
Corsica.  What  a  contrast  does  he  present  to  St. 
John  in  his  banishment  in  Patmos.  The  Stoic  and 
the  Epicurean  alike  took  refuge  in  suicide.  Brutus 
the  Stoic,  and  Cassius  the  Epicurean  killed  themselves 
at  Philippi  ;  and  Seneca,  at  Rome.  The  Stoicism  of 
the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  could  not  rescue  him 
from  abject  superstition.  Many  of  the  Stoics  who 
descanted  eloquently  on  the  dignity  of  ethical  wisdom 
and  virtue  in  public,  were  known  by  their  private 
friends  to  live  immoral  lives.^ 

Scepticism  was  recognized  as  a  consequence  of  the 
Athenian  Embassy  of  Philosophers, — Carneades,  Cri- 

1  In  that  noble  speech  of  Cato,  which  is  a  good  specimen  of  Stoicism, 
is  the  following  line,  which  is  faulty  both  in  syntax  and  prosody  in  the 
common  editions,  v.  568, — 

**  An  sit  vita  nihil,  et  longa  an  differat  setas  ?  " 

Various  emendations  have  been  proposed  in  it.  Perhaps  the  true 
reading  may  be, 

"An  sit  vita  nihil  ?  det  longa  an  differat  astas  ?  " 

i.  e.,"Is  life  nothing?  Does  long  life  give  good  things  to  men,  or 
postpone  their  fruition?"  Compare  Seneca,  who  says  (Epist.  73), 
"  Non  est  vita  major,  quce  longior,"  and  on  this  use  oi  diffciv^  to  defer, 
cp.  Horat.  Ars  Poet.  i.  44:   Z)c7?r  and  ^//^rri' are  opposed  to  one  another. 

*  "  Ignobilem  Deorum  turbam."  Seneca  in  S.  Aug.  de  Civ.  Dei  vi.  10. 

3  Juvenal,  ii.  3,  "Qui  Curios  simulant  et  Bacchanalia  vivunt,"  &.c. 
Cp.  iii    116,  "  Stoicus  occidit  Baream." 


DION,  HAL.—  VARRO—FOLYBIUS.  19 

tolaus,  and  others  in  B.C.  155.  And  even  before  it, 
the  Poet  Ennius  had  professed  Epicurean  opinions 
on  the  indifference  of  the  gods  to  human  affairs 
(Cicero  de  Divin.  ii.  50). 

Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  who  wrote  about  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  remarked  that  the  old 
Roman  reh'gion  was  purer  and  more  healthful  to 
morality  than  the  Greek  Mythology  (Archseol.  ii.  18); 
and  Varro,  who  was  somewhat  earlier,  has  recorded 
that  for  170  years  from  the  foundation  of  Rome,  no 
image-worship  had  been  seen  there  ;  and  he  expressed 
his  opinion  that  there  would  have  been  more  reverence 
for  the  deities  if  it  had  never  been  introduced  (Varro 
in  S.  Augustin.  de  Civ.  Dei  iv.  31). 

Polybius  (vi.  56)  attributes  the  strength  of  Rome  to 
its  faith  in  the  supernatural  powers.  That  behef  in 
supernatural  powers  regulating  human  affairs,  and 
rewarding  virtue,  and  punishing  vice,  exercised  a 
healthy  influence  by  means  of  those  elements  of  truth 
which  it  contained,"'  but  not  in  any  degree  by  its 
errors  and  superstitions  which  afterwards  overlaid  and 
corrupted  the  truth;  and  it  produced  in  Roman  history 
many  noble  examples  of  heroic  valour,  bold  enter- 
prise, patient  endurance,  inflexible  constancy,  un- 
swerving integrity,  patriotic  self-devotion  and  self- 
sacrifice,  strict  justice,  simplicity  and  frugahty,  tem- 
perance and  chastity.  Such  are  commemorated  by 
Cicero  in  his  "  De  Officiis,"  and  are  celebrated  by 
Virgil  in  the  historic  lay  which  he  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  Anchises  in  Elysium  (^n.  vi.  756 — 854),  and  by 
Horace  in  one  of  his  Odes  to  Augustus  (i  Od.  xii. 
32,  &c.),  and  are  recognized  by  S.  Augustine  in  the 

*  Compare  Hooker's  wise  words,  Eccl.  Pol.  v.  chaps,  i — 3,  and 
Dean  Church  "on  the  Gifts  of  Civilization,"  pp.  157 — 165. 

C    2 


20  CICERO'S  A  VO  WAL :  A  UGUSTAN  REFORMS. 

earlier  Bcoks  of  his  work  on  the  City  of  God.  But 
S.  Augustine  also  quotes  a  remarkable  sentence  of 
Cicero  on  the  degeneracy  of  Roman  morals,  public 
and  private,  which  no  religion  or  philosophy,  known 
to  them,  could  arrest  (S.  Aug.  ii.  21).  ,  He  introduces 
Cicero,  citing  the  memorable  verse  of  Ennius,  declar- 
ing that  Rome's  greatness  rested  on  the  foundation 
of  its  ancient  Manners  and  Men, 

*'  Moribus  antiquis  res  stat  Romana  virisque." 

Cicero  adds  that  this  verse  was  like  a  divine  oracle, 
for  neither  men  without  ancient  manners,  nor  manners 
without  such  men,  would  have  been  able  to  found  or 
maintain  the  State.  "  But  our  own  age,"  says  Cicero, 
"  resembles  those  persons  who  have  received  from  their 
forefathers  the  State  like  a  beautiful  picture  dimmed 
by  age  ;  but  we  not  only  have  not  renewed  its.  fading 
colours,  we  have  not  even  preserved  its  form  and  out- 
line. What  vestiges  now  remain  of  our  ancient  man- 
ners }  They  have  passed  away  into  oblivion,  and  they 
have  vanished  with  the  failure  of  men.  We  retain  a 
Republic  in  name,  but  have  lost  the  thing  by  our  vices." 
The  Emperor  Augustus,  conscious  of  this  truth, 
endeavoured  to  restore  belief  to  the  national  con- 
science ;  and  the  Poets  of  the  Augustan  age  lent 
their  aid  to  the  Imperial  Policy.  "  In  primis  venerare 
Deos  "  was  the  precept  of  Virgil  to  his  Italian  Hus- 
bandmen (Georg.  i.  338),  and 

**Dis  te  minorem  quod  geris,  imperas,'* 

was  the  wise  utterance  of  Horace  (3  Od.  vi.  i — 5), 
exhorting  the  Roman  people  to  rebuild  their  ruined 
temples.  But  it  was  too  late  a  day.  Greek  Art  and 
Greek  Philosophy  had  enervated  the  moral  sense  and 


FAILURE  OF  ROMAN  RELIGION.  21 

hardy  virtues  of  Rome,  and  had  sapped  the  founda- 
tions of  her  faith.  Religion  still  held  some  sway  over 
the  hearts  of  women  (Juvenal,  vi.  510 — 555),  and  was 
regarded  by  some  as  useful  on  that  account  (Strabo, 
Geogr.  i.  2).  But  such  a  religion  was  not  a  thing  to 
be  loved  and  obeyed  as  a  living  power ;  it  was  an 
object  of  superstition  inspiring  gloomy  fears  (Horat 
2  Sat.  iii.  295);  and  it  also  consecrated  vices  by  the 
examples  of  the  gods  themselves,  and  ministered  to 
sensual  licentiousness  by  making  it  to  be  a  part  of 
religious  worship  in  the  festivals  of  Aphrodite  and 
Dionysus  (Dionys.  Hal.  ii.  20  ;  Clemens  Alex,  ad  Gent. 
c.  2  ;  Arnobius,  lib.  v.). 

The  profligacy  and  cruelty  produced  by  such  m- 
fluences,  in  the  theatre,  the  circus,  and  the  gladiatorial 
shows  of  the  amphitheatre,  where  women  were  spec- 
tators with  men,  are  not  only  attested  by  sacred 
writers  such  as  St.  Paul  (Rom.  i.  28—32),  but  by 
heathen  authors  themselves,  as  will  appear  in  a  sub- 
sequent chapter  (chap,  xxiii.). 

The  divinization  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  not  only  of 
an  Augustus, — to  which  unhappily  Virgil  and  Horace 
contributed, — but  of  a  Nero  and  Domitian,  did  much 
to  degrade  religion  by  canonizing  vice.  And  this  was 
carried  still  further  in  the  apotheosis  of  an  Antinous 
by  Hadrian. 

Lucretius,  while  with  some  inconsistency  conse- 
quent on  a  desire  to  conciliate  the  multitude,  and  to 
popularize  unbelief,  he  dedicates  his  poem  "  On  the 
Nature  of  Things  "  to  one  deity,  Venus,  and  prays  her 
to  intercede  with  another  deity.  Mars,  yet  in  the 
same  breath  declares  that  the  main  purpose  of  Philo- 
sophy is  to  emancipate  the  human  mind  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  fear  of  the  gods  (i.  79) ; — 


22     LUCRETIUS,   CICERO,   VARRO,   TACITUS,  PLINY. 

*'  Quare  Relligio  pedibus  subjecta  vicissim 
Obteritur,  nos  exa;quat  Victoria  ccelo  ;  " 

According  to  him,  man  might  rebel  against  God 
and  conquer  ;  and  might  raise  himself  to  heaven  by 
Atheism.  He  points  also  with  bitter  scorn  to  the 
evils  wrought  by  that  fear,  and  says, 

"Tantum  relligio  potuit  suadere  malorum  "  (i.  107). 

This  was  not  a  poetical  fiction.  Cicero  affirms  that 
Philosophers  were  unbelievers.  "  Eos  qui  philosophise 
dent  operam,  non  arbitrari  Deos  esse  "  (Cicero  de  In- 
ventione  i.  29  ;  pro  Cluentio  c.  61 ;  de  Nat.  Deor.  ii.  2). 

Cicero's  friend  Varro  declares  that  the  popular 
Mythology  was  only  fit  for  the  Theatre  ;  that  the 
political  religion,  which  served  for  State  purposes,  had 
a  certain  utility,  but  that  the  only  true  religion  was 
the  religion  of  Nature,  by  which  he  meant  Pantheism 
(Varro  in  S.  Aug.  de  Civ.  Dei  vi.  5 ;  cp.  ibid.  v.  31). 

The  grave  and  sententious  Tacitus  is  more  con- 
servative in  his  notions,  especially  when  he  comes  to 
speak  of  Judaism  as  having  no  images  of  gods,  and  as 
treating  the  gods  with  contempt  (Tacit.  Hist.  v.  5);  and 
he  acknowledges  a  divine  power  in  the  control  of  human 
affairs  (Hist.  iv.  y^),  but  expresses  doubts  whether 
the  world  is  ruled  by  fate  or  by  chance  (Annales 
vi.  22  ;  cp.  Juvenal,  xiii.  87). 

His  contemporary  Pliny  the  Elder  composed  a 
vast  Encyclopaedic  work,  still  extant,  on  the  Natural 
History  of  the  World,  and  yet  in  a  melancholy  spirit 
of  dreary  agnosticism  he  cannot  perceive  any  grounds 
of  hope  or  joy  for  man  ;  indeed,  the  best  that  man 
possesses  is  the  power  of  putting  an  end  to  his  own 
life;"'   and  he  disdains  the  notion  that  the  world  is 

*  Cp.  Neander,  i.  p.  14,  who  has  been  of  much  service  in  this  chapter, 
and  Friedlander's  Sittens-Geschichte  Roms,  vol.  iii.  p.  427. 


QUINTILIAN,  JUVENAL:  CICERO.  23 

governed  by  divine  providence  ;  or  that  the  gods, — if 
they  exist, — trouble  themselves  about  human  affairs 
(Hist.  Nat.  ii.  4  ;  vii.  i). 

He  laughs  to  scorn  the  popular  belief  and  worship, 
and  the  whole  system  of  Polytheism,  and  takes  refuge 
in  the  acknowledgment  of  Nature  as  the  **  Mother  of 
all  things,"  and  divinizes  her  as  such  (Plin.  N.  H. 
xxvii.  8  ;   xxxvii.  205). 

His  friend  Ouintilian  took  a  middle  course,  and 
tried  to  reconcile  the  external  forms  of  polytheism 
with  an  inner  spirit  of  monotheism. 

As  to  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments, 
the  celebrated  debate  reported  by  Sallust  (Catilin. 
51,  52)  between  Julius  Caesar  and  Cato,  on  the  penalty 
to  be  inflicted  on  the  Catilinarian  conspirators,  reveals 
the  fact  that,  notwithstanding  such  poetic  pictures 
as  Homer  has  drawn  of  the  future  state  in  the  Odyssev 
(lib.  xi.),  and  Virgil  in  the  ^neid  (lib.  vi.),  it  was 
quite  safe  to  disavow  publicly  all  belief  in  their  reality. 
And  when  we  come  to  the  time  of  Juvenal, — ^con- 
temporary with  St  John, — we  hear  that  this  belief  no 
longer  lingers  even  in  the  minds  of  school-boys 
(Juvenal,  ii.  149). 

What  then  was  to  be  done  by  those  who  were 
raised  above  vulgar  superstitions,  and  who  desired  to 
think  with  the  wise  t 

This  question  may  be  answered  in  part  by  a  refer- 
ence to  Cicero.  His  philosophical  writings  show 
that  he  had  examined  the  tenets  of  all  schools  of 
thought.  And  the  result  was  that,  while  he  visited 
each  school  as  a  guest,  he  dwelt  with  none  as  in  a 
home.  He  took  up  his  abode  in  another  school, — if 
school  it  could  be  called, — the  Academic,  which 
claimed  the  privilege  of  arguing  /or,  and  against,  all 


24  CICERO— VIRGIL. 

schools  ;  and  he  did  not  profess  to  ascend  to  anything 
higher  thdiXv  probability.  Not  that  he  did  not  consider 
himself  bound  to  be  guided  by  probabiHty.  At  the 
same  time  he  inclines,  in  what  may  be  called  his  dog- 
matic treatises  (as  De  Officiis,  De  Amicitia,  De 
Senectute),  to  Platonism  and  Stoicism  (see  Bentley 
on  Freethinking,  liii.). 

His  great  ethical  treatise  "  De  Officiis"  (on  moral 
duty),  which  was  composed  for  the  use  of  his  own  son 
Marcus  Cicero,  sets  forth  with  ability  and  clearness, 
as  its  fundamental  principle,  the  rule  "  naturam 
sequi "  (to  follow  nature)  as  the  guide  of  life  (De 
Offic.  i.  4,  28.  "  Si  naturam  sequemur  ducem, 
nunquam  aberrabimus,"  i.  31  ;  iii.  8),  a  rule  explained 
and  Christianized  by  Bp.  Butler  in  his  Sermons  on 
Human  Nature.  But  this  rule,  as  far  as  motives  to 
virtuous  action  are  concerned,  falls  very  far  short 
of  that  which  has  been  admirably  illustrated  and 
enforced  by  S.  Augustine,  in  his  work  "  De  Moribus 
Ecclesise  Catholicse,"— the  Love  of  God  (Tom.  i. 
cap.  15,  and  cap.  22). 

The  difficulty  of  making  a  choice  among  the 
conflicting  schools  of  philosophy  is  illustrated  by  the 
utterances  of  the  two  greatest  Roman  Poets  a  little 
before  the  birth  of  Christ. 

In  his  Georgics,  Virgil, — fascinated  probably  by  his 
predecessor  Lucretius, — aspires  to  take  a  place  among 
the  great  physical  inquirers  of  his  age,  and  he  looks 
to  them  as  leading  him  to  achieve  a  victory  over  the 
fears  of  Fate  and  of  Acheron  (Georg.  ii.  475 — 492). 

But  in  his  yEneid,  the  pious  and  devout  poet, 
perhaps  reflecting  on  the  unhappy  end  of  that  prede- 
cessor, seems  to  have  shrunk  from  his  dreary  creed, 
and  takes  refuge  in  the  Platonic  belief  of  a  supreme 


VI R  GIL— MORA  CE.  25 

spiritual  essence,  from  which  all  vitality  is  derived, 
as  from  a  primary  source  of  being  (^neid  vi.  724— 
734;  see  Heyne,  Excurs.  xiii.).  And  in  his  fourth 
Eclogue  he  had  declared  the  belief,  existing  in  the 
minds  of  pious  heathens,  that  a  brighter  era  would 
soon  dawn  upon  the  troubled  world  ;  and  he  expresses 
devout  longing  for  that  glorious  consummation,  the 
Coming  of  the  Great  Deliverer. 

His  friend  Horace  was  more  unsettled,  for  a 
while,  in  his  religious  and  philosophical  opinions. 
At  one  time  he  is  a  votary  of  the'' insaniens  sapientia" 
of  Atheism  (i  Od.  xxxiv.  5)  ;  at  another  time  he 
earnestly  exhorts  to  belief,  and  writes  Odes  for  the 
popular  worship,  and  addresses  hymns  to  the  popular 
deities.  At  one  time  he  is  a  votary  of  the  easy 
versatility  of  Aristippus,  at  another  of  the  rigid  virtue 
and  proud  self-sufficiency  of  the  Stoics  ;  and  then  he 
rallies  himself  with  a  playful  banter,  as  if  he  were 
lapsing  into  the  materialism  and  voluptuousness  of 
Epicurus  (i  Epist.  i.  18,  106;  iv.  10). 

Horace  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  repre- 
sentatives of  the  cultivated  Roman  of  the  Augustan 
age.  He  had  been  well  trained  in  the  study  of  Greek 
and  Latin  Literature ;  he  was  endued  with  liveli- 
ness of  fancy,  not  without  the  higher  faculty  of 
imagination ;  he  was  gifted  with  extraordinary  felicity 
and  graceful  elegance  of  language,  with  refined 
delicacy  of  taste,  and  courtesy  of  manners,  which 
commended  him  to  the  favour  of  the  Emperor  of  the 
world,  and  of  his  ministers  and  courtiers  ;  and  he  had 
free  access  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  intellectual 
delights,  as  well  as  of  animal  pleasures.  And  yet, 
with  all  his  occasional  vacillations,  he  is  distinguished, 
perhaps  above    all    Roman  writers   of  his   age,  for 


26  PENSIVE  MELANCHOL  V  OF  HORA  CE. 

giving  utterance  to  a  pensive  and  melancholy  con- 
sciousness of  the  hollowness  of  all  earthly  pleasures, 
and  of  the  palling  satiety,  weary  listlessness,  and  jaded 
exhaustion  produced  by  them.  He  also  bears  testi- 
mony to  the  unsatisfactory  character  of  human 
knowledge,  and  conflicting  inconsistency  of  the 
schools  of  Philosophy,  in  which  he  drifted  about  in 
doubt  and  uncertainty.  He  also  declares,  especially 
in  his  later  writings,  that  he  concentrated  all  his 
thoughts  and  desires  on  the  pursuit  of  what  is  true 
and  lovely,  and  of  solid  and  enduring  happiness,  and 
that  he  is  impatient  to  discover  it  (i  Epist.  i.  11,23). 
He  gives  vent  to  intense  craving  for  something  be- 
yond himself,^  which  he  was  sure  existed  somewhere, 
but  which  he  tried  in  vain  to  find  (see  2  Od. 
xvi.  ;  I  Epist.  i.  23 — 65;  viii.  7 — 10;  xviii.  95  — 
100;  2  Epist.  ii.  141  &c.,  175  &c.,  200  &c. ;  2  Sat. 
vi.  60 — 76)  ;  he  utters  serious  and  earnest  words,  in 
which  he  prefers  true  wisdom  to  all  his  poetical  gifts, 
and  much  more  to  earthly  wealth,  honour,  and 
pleasure  ;  and  he  can  find  no  comfort  in  the  popular 
religion  (2  Epist.  ii.  140 — 215). 

Let  it  also  be  remembered  that  amid  the  ruins  of 
religion  there  was  still  **  the  witness  of  the  soul  born 
by  nature  to  be  Christian,"  '^  testimonium  animae 
naturaliter  Christianae,"  as  Tertullian  calls  it, crying  out 
for  help  to  the  One  God  Who  alone  could  save  it 
from  the  abyss  (Apol.  17  ;  see  also  his  treatise  De 
Anima,  p.  304,  ed.  Rigalt. ;  compare  St.  Paul's  words, 
Rom.  i.  14,  15). 

In  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era  there  were 
thoughtful  men,  who  were  stretching  out  their  hands 
in   wistful   earnestness  to  God,  "  if  haply  they  might 

^  This  is  well  shown  by  Alexander  Knox,  Remains,  i.  pp.  7 — 17. 


PLUTARCH— L  UCIAN—PA  USANIAS.  27 

find  Him."  Such,  pre-eminently,  was  the  learned,  wise, 
virtuous,  and  devout  philosopher  of  Chseronea, 
Plutarch.  He  had  drunk  deeply  of  the  spirit  of 
Platonism,  which  prepared  the  way  for  Christianity, 
by  raising  man  out  of  himself  and  above  the  popular 
notions  of  religion,  and  above  the  other  philosophical 
systems,  and  which  excited  him  to  struggle  against 
the  bondage  of  materialism,  and  elevated  him  to  noble 
aspirations  for  union  with  the  supreme  Divine 
Existence,  the  Author  and  Ruler  of  all  things. 

All  Gentile  Literature,  philosophical,  historical, 
and  biographical,  was  familiar  to  Plutarch.  He  had 
meditated  carefully  on  the  religious  systems  of 
Paganism,  Some  heathen  positivists  were  content  to 
reject  the  supernatural,  and  to  live  only  in  the  visible 
and  palpable  world.  Others,  like  Lucian, — the 
Rabelais  of  his  age, — regarded  religion,  as  Aristo- 
phanes had  done  before  him,  as  presenting  ample 
materials  for  ribald  wit,  sceptical  scoffing,  and 
scurrilous  buffoonery.  Others,  as  Caecilius,  the 
heathen  interlocutor  in  the  Dialogue  of  Minucius 
Felix,  found  no  rest  for  their  feet  on  the  quicksands  of 
philosophical  systems,  and  were  content  to  acquiesce 
in  what  they  considered  the  wisest  course,  namely, 
to  maintain  the  national  religion  on  conservative 
principles.,  and  in  a  spirit  of  reverence  for  illustrious 
ancestors,  and  for  ancient  traditions  and  usages  ;  and 
in  patriotic,  reverential  veneration  for  deities  under 
whose  auspices  Rome  had  achieved  the  conquest  of 
the  world. 

Such  again  was  the  Greek  traveller  Pausanias  in  the 
age  of  the  Antonines,  who  abhorred  the  infidelity  of 
his  age,  and  described  the  temples  and  altars  and 
other    monuments    of    Greece   ^with    archaeological 


28  THAUMATURGY ;  MAGIC— PLUTARCH. 

accuracy,  and  with  the  devout  admiration  of  pious 
enthusiasm  (cp.  Pausan.  Arcad.  viii.  c.  2). 

Others  were  taking  refuge  in  foreign  thaumaturgy 
and  in  magical  arts,  in  sorcery,  necromancy,  and 
astrology,  and  were  sinking  more  deeply  in  the  mire 
of  a  gloomy  and  fanatical  superstition.  Horace  had 
warned  Leuconoe  against  resorting  to  Babylonian 
Astrology.  But  the  friend  of  Horace,  Tiberius  Csesar, 
is  represented  by  Juvenal  as  sitting  in  his  old  age  on 
the  rock  of  Capreae,  surrounded  by  Chaldaean  diviners 
(Sat.  X.  93).  Tacitus  says  that  such  persons,  who  are 
called  by  him  "Mathematici,"  will  be  always  prohibited 
at  Rome,  and  will  be  always  patronized  (Tacit.  Hist, 
i.  21). 

But  Plutarch  took  a  wiser  course.  On  the  one  side 
he  recognized  the  evils  of  the  popular  religions ;  the 
reptile  deities  of  Egypt  excited  his  abhorrence  and 
his  pity  ;  the  images  of  gods,  worshipped  as  gods, 
repelled  him.  But  he  would  not  therefore,  by  an 
excess  of  reaction,  lapse  into  the  opposite  extreme  of 
unbelief.  No  ;  in  his  opinion,  Superstition  is  better 
than  Atheism  (see  his  treatise  De  Iside  et  Osiride, 
c.  2,  23,  71  ;  cp.  Friedlander,  Sittens-Geschichte,  iii. 
pp.  43,  448,  642).  He  could  not  find  satisfaction  in 
the  materialism  of  Epicurus,  nor  in  the  fatalism  of 
the  Stoics.     He  wrote  a  treatise  against  both. 

But  his  attempt  to  elicit  a  pure,  spiritual  belief  in 
One  Supreme  Divine  Essence,  by  a  process  of  dis- 
criminating and  exhaustive  eclecticism,  winnowing 
truth  from  error,  did  not  supply  any  motive  of  love, 
or  vital  power,  to  human  action. 

He  tried  to  solve  the  problem  of  popular  Poly- 
theism, to  reconcile  it  with  the  human  conscience,  by 
inventing  a  subordinate  class  of  ^/^;;/^;^i-,— afterwards 


THE  CLEMENTINES— JUSTIN  MARTYR.  29 

adopted  by  Porphyry, — who  were  to  be  credited  with 
the  misdemeanours  imputed  by  poets  and  the  multi- 
tude to  the  deities  of  Olympus. 

But  this  ingenious  and  amiable  process,  while  it 
was  a  witness  to  the  failure  of  human  systems  of 
religion  and  philosophy  among  the  most  eminent 
men  and  nations  of  the  heathen  world,  was  a  testimony 
also  to  the  need  of  something  beyond,  which  was  not 
evolved  from  beneath,  but  revealed  from  above,  and 
certain,  because  divine, — such  as  Christianity  is  ;  and 
which  could  rescue  man  from  Unbelief  on  the  one 
side,  and  from  Superstition  on  the  other  ;  and  by 
addressing  itself  to  man  in  his  composite  and  tripartite 
nature,  in  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  could  emancipate, 
purify,  and  elevate  his  whole  being,  and  redeem  him 
from  the  guilt  and  consciousness  of  sin,  by  means  of  a 
perfect  Atonement  in  his  own  nature,  joined  to  the 
nature  of  God,  in  the  Person  of  the  Son  of  God, 
receiving  man  into  union  with  God  in  Himself,  and 
drawing  man  upward  by  love  to  God,  revealed  as 
infinite  in  power,  love  and  wisdom,  justice  and  holi- 
ness, and  as  giving  him  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
sanctify  and  enable  him  to  be  like  God,  and  to  over- 
come all  earthly  suffering,  and  to  ascend  thereby  to 
heavenly  glory. 

The  searchings  after  truth  which  were  at  work  in 
the  mind  of  Plutarch  may  be  exemplified  also  by  the 
experience  of  two  celebrated  persons,  one  of  whom 
fell  short  of  the  truth,  the  other  succeeded  in  attaining 
it.  The  former  was  the  author  of  the  Clementines  ; 
the  latter,  Justin  Martyr. 

The  author  of  the  Clementines,  a  fiction  founded 
on  fact,  represents  himself  as  a  noble  Roman  who 
lived  at  the  be^finninG:  of  the  Christian  era,  and  as 


30  THE  CLEMENTINES. 

distracted  by  doubts  from  his  earliest  youth  concern- 
ing his  own  origin,  and  destiny  after  death.'  He  fell 
into  a  deep  melancholy,  and  resorted  to  schools  of 
philosophy  for  a  solution  of  his  difficulties.  But  they 
onl}^  puzzled  him  by  their  wranglings  and  inconsis- 
tencies. He  then  hears  the  story  of  Christianity,  the 
miracles  and  teaching  of  Jesus  Christy  and  resolves  to 
travel  into  Palestine.  In  his  way  thither  he  comes  to 
Alexandria,  and  meets  Barnabas,  and  joins  with  him 
in  a  controversy  with  the  Philosophers,  whom  he 
refutes.  He  attaches  himself  to  Barnabas,  who  invites 
him  to  follow  him  to  Caesarea,  where  he  meets  Peter. 
The  result  is  that  the  author  accepts  in  a  certain 
sense  the  divine  mission  both  of  Moses  and  of  Christ.^ 
But  he  does  not  arrive  at  the  truth  which  Moses  him- 
self taught,  namely,  that  Moses  was  the  divinely-sent 
forerunner  of  Christ,  and  that  the  Law  has  been 
fulfilled  in  the  Gospel,  which  is  the  only  true  way  of 
salvation.  Justin,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  starting 
from  the  same  point  of  doubt,  arrived  at  a  happier 
conclusion.  Having  been  tutored  in  Schools  of 
Gentile  Philosophy,  he  became  a  Champion  of 
Christianity  against  Jew  and  Gentile,  and  died  a 
Martyr  for  the  faith. 

On  the  whole,  then,  we  may  recognize  similar 
phenomena  both  in  Heathenism  and  Judaism,  as 
declaring  the  need  of  some  other  faith,  such  as 
Christianity  is  proved  to  be,  and  as  preparing  the  way 
for  it. 

The  Prophecies  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  the 
heroism  of  such  noble  confessors  and  martyrs  as  the 

7  See  Clementina  Homil.  i.  p.  621,  ed.  Coteler.  ed.  Amst.  1724. 
^  Clementiu.  Horn.  viii.  c.  7. 


THE  WORLD'S  NEEDS  AND  LONGINGS.  31 

Maccabees  in  the  days  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  when 
the  voice  of  prophecy  was  silent,  the  yearning  of 
devout  men,  the  Symeons  and  Nathanaels,  for  the 
coming  of  the  "  Desire  of  all  Nations  "  (Hagg.  ii.  7), 
and  their  patient  waiting  for  "  the  consolation  of 
Israel"  (Luke  ii.  25),  had  their  counterpart  in  the 
aspirations  of  good  and  great  men  in  the  heathen  world. 
The  wreck  of  Judaism  in  the  dead  formalism  and 
supercilious  self-sufficiency  and  self-righteousness  of 
the  Pharisee,  and  in  the  Epicurean  worldliness  and 
low  materialism  of  the  Sadducee,  had  their  parallels 
also  in  the  complete  failure  of  all  heathen  systems  of 
religion  and  philosophy  to  educate  and  purify  Society. 
The  ascetic  communities  of  Jewish  Essenes  on  the 
west  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  of  the  Therapeutae  at 
Lake  Mceris  near  Alexandria,  were  witnesses  in  the 
same  way  as  some  purer  minds  in  Gentilism  were, 
which  dwelt  as  it  were  apart,  and  loved  to  live  lives 
of  spiritual  contemplation  in  the  hope  of  some  better 
future. 

It  was  at  this  time,  when  Mankind  had  been  fairly 
tried  for  many  generations,  and  had  been  found 
wanting  ;  and  when  many  were  deeply  conscious  of 
the  failure,  and  were  looking  earnestly  for  help  from 
above ;  and  when  it  had  been  clearly  proved  by  the 
experience  of  many  centuries  that  "the  world  by 
wisdom  knew  not  God"  (i  Cor.  i.  21),  and  that  it 
could  not  raise  itself  from  the  depths  of  shame  and 
misery  in  which  it  was  plunged  ;  and  that  the  pride 
and  presumption  of  the.  human  intellect  had  this  only 
effect, — to  sink  it  in  a  deeper  abyss  of  despondency  ; 
and  that  if  Man  was  to  rise,  it  could  only  be  by 
humility,  and  by  self-distrust  and  self-mortification, 
and  by  looking  upward  to  God,  that  the  Son  of  God 


32.  MAN'S  MORAL  PROBATION. 

appeared  from  heaven  to  gladden  the  eyes  of  the  aged 
world,  which,  like  the  holy  Symeon,  embraced  Him 
with  the  arms  of  faith,  and  said,  "  Lord,  now  lettest 
Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes 
have  seen  Thy  salvation,  which  Thou  hast  prepared 
before  the  face  of  all  people,  a  light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  Thy  people  Israel "' 
(Luke  ii.  29 — 32). 

The  lateness  of  the  appearance  of  Christianity  in 
the  world  has  given  rise  to  many  speculations  and 
controversies.  This  is  one  of  those  '*  deep  things 
of  God  "  on  which  it  is  true  reverence  and  wisdom 
to  confess  our  ignorance.  We  know  that  Christianity 
did  appear  "  in  the  fulness  of  time,"  that  is,  at  the 
right  season.  But  it  is  not  improbable,  that  humility 
and  faith,  tested  and  proved,  are  essential  pre- 
requisites for  God's  favour  and  for  future  happiness 
in  Eternity.  And  we  may  suppose  that  it  is  a  part 
of  man's  moral  probation  in  this  world,  as  preparing 
him  for  a  future  state  of  everlasting  union  and  com- 
munion with  God,  to  learn  his  own  weakness,  and  to 
be  thus  trained  in  humility,  and  in  trustful  and  loving 
dependence  on  God. 

These  lessons  will  be  learnt  by  all  who  reflect  on 
the  debased  and  miserable  condition  in  which  the  world 
was  before  Christianity,  at  a  time  when  the  human 
intellect  was  most  active  in  the  investigation  of  meta- 
physical and  moral  truth  ;  and  how  earnestly  the  best 
men  longed  for  something  which  they  did  not  possess, 
but  which,  we  may  confidently  affirm,  has  now  been 
supplied  by  Christianity.  And  also,  if  we  look  forward 
to  what  now  remains  of  the  world's  duration,  it  may 
perhaps  be  a  part  of  the  divine  plan  for  our  probation 
a  posteriori  (now  that  Christianity  has  been  revealed) 


MORAL  PROBATION.  33 

to  try  men  whether  they  will  humbly  and  thankfully 
accept  Christianity,  as  a  full  and  fmal  revelation  of 
God's  will  to  mankind  in  its  present  state  ;  or  will 
reject  that  revelation,  and  go  back  to  other  ethical 
and  metaphysical  systems  in  preference  to  it ;  and 
will  rely  for  guidance  on  human  intelligence ;  in  a 
word,  will  trust  to  things  which  have  been  tried,  and 
have  been  shown  by  experience  to  have  failed. 

In  either  case  this  purpose  will  have  been  served, 
whether  by  acceptance  or  non-acceptance  of  Chris- 
tianity. And  God's  Judgment  of  the  world  will  be 
justified  hereafter,,  in  rewarding  faith,  and  in  punishing 
unbelief. 


D 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Apostolic  Preaching — It^  Principles,  Method^  Agents ^ 
and  Progress, 

"  Ye  shall  receive  power,"  said  Christ,  a  little  before 
His  Ascension,  to  the  Apostles  whom  He  had  chosen 
(Acts  i.  2 — 8),  "  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me  both  in 
Jerusalem,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  ntterniost 
part  of  the  earths  He  then  declared  to  them  what 
their  work  was  to  be,  and  the  order  and  method  in 
which  it  was  to  be  performed.  They  were  to  be  wit- 
nesses to  Him,  God  and  Man,  to  Him,  Very  Christ, 
— dying,  risen,  ascended  into  heaven  for  men  and  for 
their  salvation,  and  sending  to  them  the  Holy  Ghost, 
— to  Him  the  Lord  of  all,  and  future  Judge  of  quick 
and  dead. 

And  this  witness  was  to  be  delivered  in  regular 
order,  first  to  Jerusalem,  then  to  Judaea,  then  to 
Samaria,  and  finally  to  the  whole  world. 

If  we  refer  to  the  Chronological  Table  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  volume,  we  shall  see  that  this  divine  com- 
mand was  complied  with. 

The  first  Apostolic  preaching  of  which  we  read  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  was  to  Jews  at  Jerusalem 
(Acts  ii.  14 — 47  ;  iii.  12 — 26  ;  iv.  8 — 12)  ;  and  St.  Peter, 
to  whom  our  Lord  had  given  the  keys  for  the  opening 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  (Matt.  xvi.  19),  was  specially 


JERUSALEM,   THE  MOTHER  CHURCH:  ST.  PETER.  35 

employed  in  this  work.  Jerusalem,  the  holy  city,  was 
the  Mother  Church  of  the  World.  It  was  regarded  as 
such  in  primitive  times. ^  "  The  law  was  to  go  forth 
from  Sion,  and  the  Word  of  God  from  Jerusalem  " 
(Micah  iv.  2,  ii).  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Apostles,  by  Christ's  command,  remained  there 
twelve  years  after  the  Ascension.'  At  Jerusalem  we 
meet  with  the  first  example  of  Diocesan  Episcopacy  in 
the  person  of  St.  James,  "  the  Lord's  brother,"  who  is 
entitled  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  by  early  writers.^  At 
Jerusalem  was  held  the  first  Council  of  the  Christia?i 
Church  (Acts  xv.  2).  Jerusalem  was  the  fountain  and 
well-spring  of  Christianity  :  from  it  the  Church  went 
forth  to  enfold  the  world  in  a  spiritual  Sion, — the 
Mother  of  us  all  (Gal.  iv.  26). 

Devout  men  of  Judaea  heard  St.  Peter's  preaching 
and  were  baptized  (Acts  ii.  9,  38)  ;  and  he  went 
with  St.  John  from  Jerusalem  to  Samaria  to  impart  to 
believers  there  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  Confir- 
mation (Acts  viii.  14 — 19).  He  also  used  the  keys  given 
Him  by  Christ  to  open  the  door  of  the  Church  to  the 
Gentiles  in  the  person  of  Cornehus  at  Caesarea  (Acts  x. 
28 — 48 ;  and  see  his  own  statement.  Acts  xv.  7).  The 
spiral,  so  to  speak,  of  Apostolical  preaching,  which 
had  its  focus  in  Jerusalem,  evolved  itself  outwards 
from  that  focus  in  an  ever-growing  curvature,  till  it 
embraced  heathendom.  Its  first  outline  was,  accord- 
ing to  our  Lord's  direction,  traced  by  St.  Peter. 

St.  Peter's  teaching,  by  other  means  than  those 
of  oral   instruction,    was    also   framed  and  executed 

'  S.  Jerome  in  Esai.  ii.,  "In  Hierusalem  primum  fundata  Ecclesia 
totius  orbis  Ecclesias  seminavit."  Concil.  Constant,  in  Theodoiet, 
E.  H.  V.  9,  /iTjTTjp  airacwv  ruv  iKK\r](Tiwi>  r]  4u  'lepQaoKvfj.ois. 

'  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  v.  18. 

^  Clement  Alex.  ap. Euseb.  ii.  I.  Cp.  Tillemont,i.p.  371,  ed.  Paris.  1701. 
D    2 


36  ST.  PETER'S  FLAN;  AND  ST.  PAUL'S. 

on  the  same  plan.  There  seems  no  reason  for  doubting 
that  \h^  Babylon  from  which  he  dates  his  first  Epistle, 
was  the  literal  Parthian  Babylon  (see  on  i  Pet.  v.  13), 
the  Eastern  Babylon,  the  ancient  enemy  of  God's 
Church, — and  not  Rome.  A  metaphor  in  the  date  of 
a  letter  is  out  of  place.  Many  Jews  were  then  resident 
at  Babylon,  as  well  as  heathens  (see  on  Acts  ii.  9). 
From  Babylon  then  he  wrote  an  Epistle  to  the  Jews 
scattered  in  Asia  (i  Pet.  i.  i),  and  also  to  Gentiles 
(i  Pet.  iv.  3,  4).  He  bore  witness  to  Christ  and 
glorified  God  by  his  death  (see  on  John  xxi.  19)  in  the 
great  Capital  of  heathendom,  the  Western  Babylon, 
Rome.''  And  it  is  stated  by  some  writers  that  before 
his  death  he  sent  his  son  in  the  faith  St.  Mark  (i  Pet.  v. 
13)  to  preach  to  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  the  Capital 
of  Egypt,  Alexandria.^ 

His  brother  Apostle  St.  Paul, — the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  (Rom.  xi.  13), — traced  a  similar  spiral  of 
Apostolical  preaching  from  the  great  heathen  City 
Antioch  of  Syria,  where,  at  the  special  command  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  he,  who  had  before  been  called  by 
Christ  at  Damascus,  was  visibly  ordained  to  the 
Apostleship  (see  on  Acts  xiii.  i,  2). 

The  student  of  the  science  of  Missions  and  of  Mis- 
sionary work  cannot  have  a  more  interesting  and  use- 
ful employment  than  in  examining  the  method 
employed  by  St.  Paul  in  evangelizing  the  world. 

The  following  phenomena  are  observable  in  that 
method  : — 

1.  He  did  not  attempt  to  take  in  too  large  a  field 
at  once  in  his  missionary  journeys. 

2.  He  proceeded  slowly  and  carefully,  and  he  made 
his  ground  good,  and  enlarged  it  by  degrees. 

*  TerLullian,  Scorp.  5  ;  Prascr.  H?er.  36.    Eiiseb,  ii.  25. 
5  Epiphan.  Hceies.  Ii.    Euseb.  ii.  16. 


ST.  PAULS  PLAN  OF  PREACHING.  37 

3.  He  left  persons  behind  him  to  continue  and  con- 
soHdate  his  work  (Acts  xiv.  23  ;  xvii.  14,  15),  and  he 
visited  them  from  time  to  time  to  see  in  what  con- 
dition they  were. 

4.  He  began  his  missionary  work  in  great  centres  of 
population,  Antioch,  Phihppi,  Thessalonica,  Corinth, 
Ephesus,  and  so  reached  Rome. 

Similarly  in  his  ^//j-Z/^j-  he  began  with  writing  to  Thes- 
salonica, the  C-fT^/Z^^/of  the  Northern  Province  of  Greece, 
Macedonia;  he  proceeded  then  to  write  to  Corinth,  the 
Capital  oi  the  Southern  Province  of  Greece,  Achaia  ; 
then  he  addressed  Rome,  the  Capital  of  the  world. 

Thus  he  showed  his  confidence  in  the  truth  of  his 
cause,  and  enlisted  fellow-labourers,  who  worked  out- 
wards in  circles  from  the  centres  of  population  chosen 
by  him. 

5.  He  ordered  his  Apostolic  teaching  according  to  a 
well-considered  plan,  which  may  be  commended  to  the 
careful  attention  of  all  preachers  of  the  Gospel, 
especially  in  heathen  lands. 

He  attracted  and  conciliated  his  hearers  and  readers 
by  beginnifig  with  things  in  which  they  agreed  with 
Jam;  as  in  his  great  missionary  sermon  at  Athens, — 
doubtless  intended  by  the  Holy  Spirit  Who  inspired  it 
and  records  it,  to  be  a  pattern  for  all  missionary  ser- 
mons,— where  he  wins  his  hearers  by  referring  to  one  of 
their  own  altars,  and  to  a  verse  of  their  own  poets,  and 
to  the  heavens  above  their  heads  (Acts  xvii.  22 — 32). 

This  will  appear  manifest  also  from  his  Epistles, 
when  they  are  read,  as  they  ought  to  be,  according  to 
the  chronological  order  in  which  they  were  written. 

He  began  with  laying  down  fundamental  truths 
which  are  fij'st  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
(Pleb.   vi.    I,   2).     This    he   did   in    his  two   earliest 


38  PLAN  OF  ST.  PA  UV S  EPISTLES. 

Epistles,  those  to  the  Thessaloiiians.  In  them  his  first 
endeavour  is  to  awaken  the  conscience,  and  to  create 
a  sense  of  human  accountability, — such  as  was  not 
unfelt  by  the  wiser  and  better  heathens, — by  setting 
before  his  hearers  or  readers  the  doctrine  of  future 
Restirrcctioii  and  yiidgme7it^  and  eternal  Rewards  and 
Punishvie7its  {?>Q,^  i  Thess.  iv.  13 — 18;  v.  I — 10,  23,  24. 
2  Thess.  i.  7—10  ;  ii.  i — 8  ;  iii.  5),  and  the  moral 
practice  grounded  on  belief  in  these  doctrines,  particu- 
larly by  the  "  work  of  faith,  the  labour  of  love,  and 
patience  of  hope  "  (i  Thess.  i.  3),  and  the  sanctification 
of  the  body  in  holiness  and  purity  of  life  (i  Thess.  iv. 

3-7)- 

In  his  next  Epistle,  that  to  the  Galatiaiis,  he  vindi- 
cates his  own  Apostolic  Commission ;  and  in  that 
Epistle  and  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  he  declares 
the  universality  o^  the  need  of  a  RedeemeVy  by  reason  of 
the  universality  of  human  sinfulness  ;  and  he  pro- 
claims the  universality  of  the  Redemption  provided  by 
God  in  Christ  for  all,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  who 
accept  the  Gospel  by  Faith  which  worketh  by  Love 
(Gal.  V.  6)  as  the  only  means  of  justification,  apart 
from  the  Mosaic  Law,  which  was  preparatory  to  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  (see  on  Galatians,  p.  41,  and  Romans, 
pp.  189—201). 

In  the  two  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  he  pro-» 
vided  for  the  internal  safety  of  the  Church  by  de- 
claring the  sinfdness  of  wilfnl  schism,  and  the 
blessedness  of  Unity  in  the  Faith,  and  of  Charity  or 
Love,  without  which  nothing  is  profitable  (see  on 
Corinthians,  pp.  73 — jC).  He  also  delivered  warnings 
against  internal  irregularities  i7i  ritnal,  especially  in 
the  administration  of  the  Holy  Commu7iion  (i  Cor.  xi. 
17 — 33),  and  in  the  attire  of  women  in  the  assemblies 


METHOD  OF  ST.  PAUL'S  EPISTLES.  39 

of  the  Church  (i  Cor.  xi.  3 — 16)  ;  and  declared  the 
duty  o(  providing  competent  maintenance  for  her  Mi?iis- 
ters  (i  Cor.  ix.  7 — 15  ;  ibid.,  p.  73). 

He  also  further  inculcated  the  duty  of  the  sanctifi- 
cation  of  the  Body y — a  lesson  greatly  needed  at  Corinth, 
— by  proclaiming  with  divine  eloquence  the  doctrine  of 
its  Resurrection  (i  Cor.  xv.),  and  the  i7idzvelling  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  all  baptized  persons,  and  their  member- 
ship in  the  Body  of  Christ,  the  Holy  One  (i  Cor.  iii. 
16,  17  ;  vi.  15.    2  Cor.  iii.  16). 

It  was  not  till  he  had  trained  the  Church  by  this 
preparatory  discipline  that  he  ventured  to  speak  fully 
on  the  Incarnatioti  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  on  the 
means  by  which  its  benefits,  earthly  and  heavenly,  are 
communicated  to  those  who  are  incorporated  in  His 
mystical  Body  ;  and  to  dwell  on  the  practical  duties  of 
Husbands  and  Wives  (joined  together  in  that  holy 
union  which  symbolizes  the  mystical  wedlock  of 
Christ  and  His  Church),  of  Parents  and  Children, 
Masters  and  Servants,  united  as  fellow-members  of 
the  same  Body,  and  fellow-heirs  of  the  same  heavenly 
and  everlasting  Inheritance  in  Christ. 

This  he  did  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Ephesians  and 
Colossians  (see  Introd.  to  Eph.,  pp.  275 — 278,  and 
Coloss.,  pp.  309 — 312),  and  thus  effected  for  Society 
in  every  age,  what  was  in  vain  attempted  by  the 
Master  of  the  Roman  World,  Augustus,  for  the  repres- 
sion of  Adultery,  and  other  deadly  sins,  and  for  the 
purification  of  Marriage,  and  for  the  happiness  of 
domestic  life.^ 

In  the  short  Epistle  to  Philemon,— ihe.  satellite  to  the 
Epistle  to  the  Colossians, — grounded  on  the  Doctrine 

^  May  I  be  allowed  to  refer,  for  further  remarks  on  this  subject,  to 
my  "Miscellanies,  Literary  and  Religious,"  iii.  pp.  23 — 27? 


40  ST.  'JOHJSrS  GOSPEL  AND  EPISTLES. 

of  the  Incarnation,  he  did  more  for  iha  Abolitioji  of  the 
evils  of  Slavery  so  rife  in  the  Heathen  world,  than  has 
ever  been  accomplished  by  human  Philosophy  or  by 
civil  Legislation  (see  on  Philemon,  pp.  333 — 336).  In 
the  Epistle  io  the  Hehreius, — for  it  may  be  probably 
ascribed  to  him,^ — he  completed  his  labour  of  love  for 
his  own  kindred,  the  Jews.  He  did  for  the  Ceremonial 
Law  in  that  Epistle  what  he  had  done  in  his  Epistle 
to  the  Romans  for  the  Moral  Law,  and  showed  that 
it  also  was  ministerial  to  Christ,  and  was  fulfilled  in 
Him. 

St.  Paul's  Pastoral  Epistles, — those  to  Timothy  and 
Titus, — were  naturally  reserved  to  the  close  of  his 
ministerial  career.  He  was  then  about  to  leave  the 
world,  and  would  provide  instruction  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  in  all  future  ages  (see  on  Timothy, 
pp.  432,  444,  445).  This  he  has  done  by  those 
Epistles  to  two  of  his  sons  in  the  faith,  whom  he  had 
constituted  to  be  Bishops, — Timothy  at  Ephesus,  and 
Titus  in  Crete;"  and  in  writing  to  them,  and  giv- 
ing them  precepts  for  the  ordination  of  Priests  and 
Deacons,  and  for  other  matters  in  the  regimen  of  the 
Church,  he  has  left  a  pattern  of  Church  constitu- 
tion and  Church  order,  and  has  bequeathed  a  legacy 
to  all  Bishops  and  Pastors,  and  to  all  ministers  and 
members  of  the  Church  even  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  "  beloved  Disciple,"  the  Apostle  and  Evangelist 
St.  John,  the  last  survivor  of  the  Apostles,  has  com- 
pleted the  work  of  Apostolic  teaching  by  his  Gospel 
and  Epistles,  in  which  the  doctrines  of  Christ's  Eternal 

"  Reasons  for  this  opinion  are  given  in  the  Introduction  to  it  in 
my  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament. 

8  Eusebius,  H.  E.  iii.  4,  says  that  Timotliy  was  the  first  Bishop  of 
Ephesus,  and  Titus  the  first  Bishop  of  Crete. 


ST.  JOHN'S  APOCALYPSE.  41 

Godhead  and  Incarnation  are  laid  down  as  the  foun- 
dation of  faith  and  practice  ;  and  of  his  teaching 
on  the  Holy  Sacraments,  deriving  their  virtue  from 
the  Godhead,  Incarnation,  and  Passion  of  Christ. 

The  Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches  in  St.  John's 
Revelation  complete  the  Apostolic  Teaching  on  the 
Ministerial  character  and  duties. 

Therestof  that  Book  (as  already  observed, pp.  9 — n) 
reveals  the  future  destinies  of  the  Church  on  earth, 
and  her  everlasting  glory  in  heaven. 


CHAPTER  V. 

On   the    Constitution    of    the    Christian    Ministry — 
Bishops^  Priests^  and  Deacons. 

St.  Paul's  Pastoral  Epistles  differ  from  most  of  his 
Epistles  in  this  respect,  that  they  are  not  addressed  to 
Churches,  or  Communities  of  Persons,  but  to  indi- 
viduals ;  two  of  them  to  Timothy,  Bishop  of  Ephesus, 
and  one  to  Titus,  Bishop  of  Crete. 

When  we  proceed  to  examine  these  three  Epistles, 
we  find  that  they  consist  mainly  of  directions  addressed 
to  Timothy  and  Titus,  requiring  them  to  discharge 
certain  duties,  and  to  exercise  jnrisdiction  over  others, 
Timothy  and  Titus  are  regarded  by  St.  Paul  as  in- 
vested with  official  authority,  and  as  accountable  for 
those  who  are  under  their  rule  ;  they  are  required  by 
him  to  restrain  Pastors,  in  their  respective  charges, 
from  preaching  false  doctrine  ;  to  stop  the  mouths  of 
those  who  are  guilty  of  doing  so  ;  to  reject  them  from 
their  cures ;  to  ordain  Presbyters,  or  Elders,  and 
Deacons,  according  to  the  need  ;  to  receive  accusations 
against  them  under  certain  conditions ;  to  rebuke 
delinquents  among  them  openly  and  sharply,  and  with 
all  authority  (i  Tim.  i.  3.  Titus  i.  1 1  ;  iii.  10 ;  i.  5,  13. 
I  Tim.  V.  19,  20.  Titus  ii.  15).  St.  Paul  charges 
them  earnestly  before  Christ  and  the  elect  angels  to 
do  these  things  (i  Tim.  v.  21.     2  Tim.  iv.  i). 


PRIMITIVE  WITNESS  TO  EPISCOPACY.  43 

We  do  not  find  that  he  gave  any  similar  charges  to 
communities  of  persons,  Elders  or  others  ;  and  we 
may  therefore  conclude  that,  by  whatever  name  they 
may  be  called,  certain  Persons,  singly  and  individually 
(in  these  cases,  Timothy  and  Titus),  were  recognized 
by  St.  Paul  as  having  superior  authority  over  all 
others,  for  specific  purposes,  within  definite  limits  of 
Ecclesiastical  Jurisdiction. 

It  is  observable  that  in  the  case  of  Timothy 
the  special  field  of  that  jurisdiction  was  a  great 
City — Ephesus  (i  Tim.  i.  5)-;  in  that  of  Titus,  an 
extensive  Island — Crete  (Titus  i.  5);  and  the  former 
was  a  young  man  (i  Tim.  iv.  12),  and  probably  the 
latter  (Titus  ii.  15),  and  could  not  have  been  qualified 
to  discharge  the  duties  imposed  on  them  unless  they 
had  possessed  an  official  superiorit}^ 

In  ancient  Church  History,  Timothy  is  called 
Bishop  of  Ephesus,  and  Titus  is  called  Bishop  of 
Crete  (Euseb.  iii.  4). 

If  we  refer  to  the  Book  of  Revelation, — the  work  of 
the  last  surviving  Apostle, — we  find,  similarly,  that  the 
Seven  Epistles  in  that  Book  (chap.  ii.  iii.)  are  not 
addressed  to  commimities  of  Presbyters,  although  we 
know  that  they  contained  many  Presbyters  (as,  e.  g. 
Ephesus  did.  Acts  xx.  17,  28),  but  to  individuals, 
who  are  called  Angels^  and  that  these  individuals  are 
recognized  by  Christ  Himself,  Who  dictates  those 
Epistles  to  St.  John,  as  responsible  for  the  character 
and  doings  of  those  Churches,  and  as  having  authority 
and  jurisdiction  over  the  Pastors  and  Teachers  in 
them,  and  other  members  of  them  (Rev.  ii.  2,  6,  14, 
15,  20  ;  iii.  2). 

It  is  observable  that  in  no  case  do  the  epithets  in 
those  Seven  Epistles  which  describe  the  condition  of 


44  PRIMITIVE   WITNESS  TO  EPISCOPACY. 

the  Churches  (such  as  Jiot,  cold,  poor,  7'ich,  naked)  agree 
m  gender  with  the  word  CJmrcJi,  which  \s  feminine,  but 
in  all  cases  they  are  masculine,  and  agree  with  the 
world  Angel,  and  show  that  the  Angel  is  regarded  by 
Christ  as  the  official  head,  and  representative  personi- 
fication, of  the  CJinrcJi. 

These  Angels  are  described  by  Primitive  Christian 
Antiquity  as  Bishops  respectively  of  those  several 
Churches,  from  the  time  of  St.  John.^ 

This  then  is  evident,  that  in  the  Apostolic  age 
Churches  had  Bishops. 

When  we  extend  our  view,  we  find  that  precisely 
the  same  thing  that  we  have  found  done  in  Ephesus, 
in  Crete,  and  in  the  Asiatic  Churches  of  St.  John^was 
done  in  other  parts  of  Christendom  in  primitive 
times. 

We  have  catalogues,  carefully  preserved,  of  Bishops 
ruling  in  the  Churches  of  Jerusalem,  of  Antioch,of  Rome, 
of  Alexandria,  and  others,  in  uninterrupted  succession, 
from  the  days  of  the  Apostles  to  the  fourth  century, 
and  transcribed  from  the  local  registers  by  the  his- 
torian of  the  Church,  Eusebius,  who  wrote  his  history 
in  that  century,  about  A.D.  324-  (Euseb.  iii.  2, 
22,  36;  iv.  I  ;  V.  2,  6;  vi.  11,  21,  23,  29,  39;  vii. 
27,  30,  32).  And  more  than  a  Century  before  Euse- 
bius  S.  Irenseus  says,  "  We  can  enumerate  those  who 
w^ere  constituted  Bishops  by  the  Apostles,  and  the 
successors  of  those  Bishops  even  to  our  own  time." ' 
•    "  We  require  you  to  find  out,"  says  Hooker  (Preface), 

1  Tertullian  adv.  Marcion.  iv.  5,"  Habemus  Joannis  alumnas  Ecclesias; 
ordo  Episcoporiini  ad  originem  recensitus  in  Joannem  stabit  auctorem." 

2  See  the  names  given  in  Blunt's  "  History  of  the  Church,"  chap.  iv. 

3  Iren.  iii.   I,  "  Habemus  enamerare  eos,  qui  ab  ApostoHs  instituti 
sunt  Episcopi  et  successares  eorum  usque  ad  nos." 


W/TNESS  OF  CHRIST  AND   THE  HOL  V  GHOST.     45 

"  but  0/ie  CJiurch  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  that 
hath  not  been  ordered  by  Episcopal  7^egimen  since  the 
time  of  the  blessed  Apostles."  And  **  let  us  not  fear  to 
be  herein  bold  and  peremptory,  that  if  anything  in 
the  Church's  government,  surely  the  first  institution 
of  Bishops  was  from  heaven,  even  of  God  ;  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  the  Author  of  it  "  (VII.  vi.  i). 

Indeed,  inasmuch  as  our  Blessed  Lord,  as  we  have 
seen  (above,  pp.  2,  3)  promised  to  be  always  with  His 
Church  "  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  and  that 
He  '*  would  send  the  Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter  to 
teach  her  all  things,  and  to  guide  her  into  all  truth, 
and  to  abide  with  her  for  ever,"  and  remained  on  earth 
forty  days  after  His  Resurrection  to  speak  to  her 
concerning  herself,  we  should  be  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  saying  that  our  Lord  (Who  is  ''the 
Truth,"  "the  true  and  faithful  Witness,"  and  Who  came 
into  the  world  "  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  ")  either 
was  Himself  deceived,  or  that  He  had  deceived  His 
Church,  if  she  was  not  duly  taught  what  was  the 
nature  of  that  Government  which  He  designed  for 
her  who  is  His  Spouse  and  Body  ;  and  if  she  was 
in  error  as  to  this  matter  for  fifteen  hundred  years ; 
during  which  she  knew  of  no  other  form  of  Church 
Government  than  that  by  Bishops  ;  and  in  which, 
when  another  form  of  Church  Government,  namely 
by  Presb}ters,  was  presented  to  her  for  acceptance, — 
as  it  was  by  the  Alexandrine  Presbyter  Colluthus,  and 
by  Aerius,— she  rejected  it  as  heretical."* 

Accordingly  the   Church   of  England  says   in  the 

^  Epiphan.  de  Hoeret.  66  or  75.  S.  Augustin.  de  H^eres.  §  53.  Leo  M., 
*'Nunquam  audilum  est,  quod  Presbyteri  Presbyteros  aut  Diaconos 
ordinaverint. "  Cp.  Cabassut.  Concil.  p.  44;  Theophilus  Anglicanus, 
Part  i.  chap.  x. 


46  A  PRESBYTER  SOMETIMES  CALLED  E PIS C OPUS. 

Preface  to  her  Ordination  Service,  ''  It  is  evident 
unto  all  men,  diligently  reading  the  Holy  Scripture 
and  ancient  authors,  that  from  the  Apostles'  time 
there  have  been  three  orders  of  ministers  in  Christ's 
Church,  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons ; "  and  she 
declares  that  none  "  shall  be  accounted  or  taken  to 
be  a  lawful  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon  in  the  Church 
of  England,  or  suffered  to  execute  any  of  the  said 
functions,  except  he  be  called,  tried,  examined,  and 
admitted  thereunto  according  to  the  Form  "  in  her 
Ordinal,  ''  or  hath  had  formerly  Episcopal  ordina- 
tion." 

It  is  indeed  sometimes  said  that  a  Presbyter  or 
Priest  is  occasionally  called  an  Episcopiis  or  Bislwp 
in  the  Pastoral  Epistles  written  in  Apostolic  times, 
and  that  therefore  a  Presbyter  and  a  Bishop  are 
identical.     But  this  is  an  erroneous  conclusion. 

It  has  never  been  shown  that  a  Presbyter  could 
ordain^  in  primitive  times,  or  could  exercise  any 
Episcopal  authority  and  jurisdiction  over  other  Pres- 
byters. 

A  Presbyter  was  sometimes  called  Episcopiis^  be- 
cause in  Apostolic  times  the  Apostles  themselves  were 
the  proper  Bishops  in   the  modern  sense  of  the  term. 

*  The  thirteenlh  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Ancyra,  a.d.  314  (to  which 
some  have  referred  as  favourable  to  Presbyterian  Ordinations),  does  not 
appear  to  have  any  bearing  at  all  on  the  question  of  ordination 
by  Presbyters,  but  to  refer  to  the  ordination  ^Presbyters;  see  Labbe, 
Concilia  i.  pp.  1462,  1468,  1474 ;  and  the  text  is  so  uncertain  and  pre- 
carious that  it  can  hardly  be  of  any  weight  against  the  general  testimony 
and  usage  of  the  Church.  Cp.  Routh,  Reliquias  iv.  121,  144,  157.  The 
true  explanation  of  that  Canon  of  Ancyra  is  to  be  found  in  the 
tenth  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Antioch,  A.D.  341,  which  evidently  refers 
to  the  Ancyran  Canon,  and  by  which  the  Chor-Episcopi  (Country- 
Bishops,  or  Bishops  vSufifragan)  are  forbidden  to  ordain  a  Deacon  or 
Presbyter  without  the  sanction  of  the  Diocesan  Bishop. 


BISHOPS  SUCCESSORS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.  47 

And  when  the  Apostles  passed  away,  the  persons 
wJiom  they  set  over  the  Churches, — such  as  Timothy 
and  Titus, — were  the  successors  of  the  Apostles  in  their 
power  of  order  and  jurisdiction.  But  in  their  modesty 
they  would  not  assume  to  themselves  the  title  of 
Apostles,  which  they  reserved  to  those  who  had  a 
direct  divine  mission  ;  and  they  called  themselves 
Bishops, — a  title  which  in  the  next  ages  was  not 
given  to  Presbyters,  but  was  restricted  to  those  who 
have  Episcopal  authority  in  the  Church.  "  It  clearly 
appeareth  by  Holy  Scripture,"  (says  Richard  Plooker, 
V.  Ixxvii.  9,)  "that  Churches  Apostolic  did  know  but 
three  degrees  in  the  power  of  Ecclesiastical  order ; 
at  the  first.  Apostles,  Presbyters,  and  Deacons  ;  after- 
wards, instead  of  Apostles,  Bishops." 

The  fountain  of  order  and  jurisdiction,  under  CHRIST 
the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  our  souls  (i  Pet.  ii.  25), 
was  in  the  Bishop  of  each  Church.  He  consulted  his 
Presbyters,  but  nothing  was  to  be  done  without  him.^ 
The  best  primitive  example  of  this  Primacy,  coupled 
with  Consultation,  is  to  be  seen  in  Acts  xxi.  18, 
where  St.  James  is  represented  as  the  principal  person, 
being  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem,  and  '*  all 
the  Presbyters  were  present  with  him."  And  we  may 
refer  to  Acts  xii.  17,  where  St.  Peter  sends  to  St.  ■ 
James  as  head  of  the  Church  there  ;  and  to  Acts 
XV.  13,  where  St.  James  pronounces  a  definitive  sen- 
tence in  the  Council  at  Jerusalem. 

In  early  times  Apostles  and  Bishops  were  some- 
times called  Presbyters.  Thus  St.  John  and  St.  Peter 
(2  John  I.  3  John  i.  i  Pet.  v.  i)  apply  the  title  of 
Presbyter,  or  Elder,  to  themselves.  And  in  the  sub- 
Apostolic  age  Bishops  sometimes  had  that  designa- 

^  S.  Tgnat.  ad  Magnes.  c.  7  j  Trail,  c.  2,  3. 


48      BISHOPS  SOMETIMES  CALLED  PRESBYTERS. 

tion7  This  is  not  surprising.  The  functions  of  the 
Presbyterate,  or  the  Priesthood,  are  in  some  respects 
of  the  highest  dignity,  namely,  in  consecrating  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  in  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  the 
keys  in  Absolution,  and  in  preaching  to  the  people. 
According  to  the  words  of  the  Prophet,  "  the  Priest's 
lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and  they  should  seek 
the  law  at  his  mouth  "  (Mai.  ii.  7).  Bishops  were 
therefore  often  called  Presbyters,  as  doctors  of  the 
Church.  The  Presbyterate  was  contained  in  the 
Episcopate.  Every  Bishop  was  a  Presbyter  ;  but  no 
Presbyter  was  a  Bishop. 

The  Order  of  Bishops  was  instituted  by  Christ 
Himself  in  the  persons  of  His  Twelve  Apostles.  And 
the  Order  of  the  Priesthood  is  generally  supposed  to 
have  been  founded  by  Him  in  the  persons  of  the 
seventy  disciples  (or,  as  some  Manuscripts  have  it, 
seventy-tivo,  Luke  x.  i). 

"  We  very  well  know,"  (says  Bishop  Andrewes  to 
Peter  Moulin,  Opuscula  Postuma,  p.  169,)  ''that  the 
Apostles  and  seventy-two  disciples  were  two  Orders, 
and  these  distinct  ;  and  that  everywhere  among  the 
Fathers,  Bishops  and  Presbyters  are  taken  to  be 
after  their  example  ;  and  that  Bishops  succeeded  the 
Apostles,  and  Presbyters  the  seventy-two.'"  Some 
ancient  writers,  expounding  the  history  of  the  ancient 
Hebrew  Church,  have  recognized  a  symbol  of  the 
former  in  the  Twelve  Wells  at  Elim,  and  of  the  latter 
in  the  Seventy  Palm  Trees  (Exod.  xv.  27).^ 

'  The  evidence  may  be  seen  in  my  work  on  S.  Hippolytus,  p.  170. 

8  S.  Jerome,  in  his  letter  on  the  Forty-two  Stations  of  the  Israehtes  in 
the  wilderness,  Epist.  127,  Mans.  vL,  says,  "Nee  dubimn  quin  de 
d^iodecim  Apostolis  sermo  sit,  de  quorum  Fontibus  derivatae  aqua;  totius 
nnmdi  siccitatem  rigant  ;  juxta  has  aquas  Septuaginta  creverunt  PalmtE^  . 
quos  et  ipsos  secundi  ordinis  intelligimus  prceceptores,  Luca  Evangelista 


THE  DIACONATE.  49 

The  completion  of  the  Christian  Ministry  was  an 
act  of  the  Holy  Spirit  inspiring  the  Apostles  to 
institute  the  third  Order,  that  of  Deacons.  The  crea- 
tion of  this  Order  was  due  to  an  occasion  similar  to 
the  Order  itself.  The  Tables  mentioned  in  Acts  vi.  2, 
were  not  secular  but  sacred,  being  connected  with 
the  administration  of  the  Holy  Communion,  and  the 
distribution  of  Alms  offered  at  it :  and  the  Order  of 
Deacons  was  not  secular,  though  it  had  secular  duties 
attached  to  it,  especially  that  of  distributing  those 
Alms  to  the  aged  and  widows,  and  sick  and  needy  ; 
but  it  consisted  of  men  chosen  because  they  were 
"  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  "  [v.  3),  and  they  were  or- 
dained with  prayer  and  laying  on  of  the  hands  of 
the  Apostles  {y.  6),  and  they  performed  sacred  duties 
in  preaching  and  baptizing  (Acts  viii.  36,  38). 

The  word  Deacon  is  involved  in  the  expression  in 
the  Acts,  vi.  3,  htaKovelv  rpane^aL';.  We  find  the 
office  of  Deacon  recognized  as  an  Order  existing  in  the 
Church  by  St.  Paul  in  his  Pastoral  Epistles  ;  and  we 
do  not  find  any  other  occasion  of  its  institution 
than  that  described  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  Acts  ; 
and  the  persons  there  mentioned,  such  as  St.  Stephen, 
St.  Philip,  and  Nicolas,  are  commonly  called  Deacons 
by  ancient  writers  (S.  Iren.  iii.  12  ;  i.  27.  S.  Cyril 
Hieros.  capt.  xvii.  Cp.  Tillemont,  i.  p.  141 ;  ii.  p.  65,  ed. 
Paris.  1 701).  After  the  institution  of  the  Diaconate 
the  Ministry  of  the  Church  was  regarded  as  com- 
plete ;  the  offices  of  Subdeacon,  Reader,  Exorcist, 
Acolyte,  were  either  temporary,  or  else,  though  con- 
venient, not  necessary. 

testante  (cap.  x.  i),  fuisse  XII.  Apostolos  et  hXX.  Disa'pu/os  rnuioris 
g7'ad:is,  quos  et  binos  ante  Se  Dominus  praemittebat.  See  also  Tertullian 
contra  Marcion.  iv.  13,  24,  and  Origen  in  Niimeros,  Horn.  27. 

E 


50       THE  THREE  ORDERS  NECESSARY. 

In  and  after  the  times  of  the  Apostles,  no  Church 
was  considered  to  be  duly  organized  or  to  possess 
the  essential  requisites  of  a  Church,  which  did  not 
possess  these  three  Orders,  Bishops,  Priests,  and 
Deacons.^ 

The  organization  of  the  Church  in  a  system  of 
Diocesan  Episcopacy,  and  of  groups  of  Dioceses  in  a 
Province  under  a  Metropolitan,  and  of  Provinces 
under  a  Patriarch,  and  of  Patriarchates,  with  co- 
ordinate jurisdiction,  so  as  to  form  the  Catholic  Church, 
was  of  later  and  gradual  development,  and  was 
affected  by  local  and  temporal  circumstances.  But 
the  following  principles  were  of  primitive,  authority: — 

1.  That  there  could  be  only  one  Bishop  with 
primary  ecclesiastical  authority  and  jurisdiction  in 
one  and  the  same  City  and  Diocese.  A  second 
Bishop  was,  in  fact,  no  Bishop.  This,  as  we  shall  see, 
was  declared  in  the  case  of  Novatian — the  first  Anti- 
pope  (A.D.  251).^ 

2.  That  Episcopal  elections  ought  to  take  place  in 
the  cities  where  their  sees  are,  and  that  Bishops  of 
the  same  Province  or  Country  (e.g.  Spain),  in  case 
of  delinquency,  ought  to  be  judged  in  that  Province 
and  Country,  without  appeal  to  foreign  Churches, 
e.  g.  to  Rome." 

^  S.  Ignatius  ad  Trallian,  3,  x^P^^  rovrtoj'  iKKXriala  oh  KaX(7rai.  See 
ibid.  c.  2  and  c.  7  ;  cp,  ad  Ephes.  2  and  20,  ad  Phil.  7,  Magnes.  7. 
S.  Clement  (of  Rome)  ad  Corinth,  c.  40.  Concil.  Nicsen.  can.  18,  where 
that  Council — the  first  general  Council — describes  the  "Deacons  as 
Ministers  of  the  Bishop,  and  inferior  to  the  Presbyters  "  or  Priests.  Cp. 
I  Tim.  iii.  13. 

'  S,  Cyprian,  Ep.  55  ad  Antonian.,  and  Ep.  67.  Concil.  Nicsen. 
can.  8. 

*  See  Concil.  Carth.  iv.  a.d.  254;  Cyprian,  Epist.  6"];  Routh,  Reliq. 
iii.  loi. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Oil  the  Christiaii  Sacrame^its — Baptism,  Holy  Commu- 
nion {Oblatio7i,  Weekly  Offertory),  Confirmation. 

The  virtue  and  efficacy  of  the  Christian  Sacraments 
are  derived  from  Christ,  the  Eternal  Son  of  God — 
God  of  God  ;  Very  God  of  Very  God— Who  took  our 
Nature  in  the  Womb  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and 
became  Very  Man,  having  a  real  human  body,  soul, 
and  spirit ;  and  Who  joined  our  Nature  for  ever  to  the 
Divine  Nature  in  His  own  Person,  and  died  for  us  on 
the  Cross.  From  the  pierced  side  of  Christ,  sleeping 
on  the  Cross  in  death,  as  from  a  divine  fountain,  the 
Life  of  the  Church  flowed  in  the  streams  of  the  two 
Sacraments. 

The  Apostle  and  beloved  disciple  St.  John,  who 
declares  in  his  Gospel  more  fully  than  any  other  of 
the  Evangelists,  the  Godhead  and  Manhood  of  Christ, 
has  also  stated  more  clearly  than  any  other  the  nature 
cf  the  two  Sacraments,  Baptism  and  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, which  receive  their  efficacy  from  the  Incar- 
nation and  Death  of  Christ,  Very  God  and  Man.  St. 
John  does  not  mention  the  Institution  of  either 
Sacrament  ;  and  with  good  reason.  The  facts  of 
their  Institution  had  been  already  sufficiently  recorded 
in  the  three  preceding  Gospels,  and  St.  John's  silence 

E  2 


53  NECESSITY  OF  77/ E  SACRAMENTS. 

is  an  eloquent  testimony  to  the  truth  and  adequacy  of 
that  Evangelical  record  of  their  Institution. 

But  he  descends  more  deeply  into  the  profound 
mystery  of  their  nature  and  inner  working.  First  he 
states  their  necessity  wherever  they  may  be  had.  He 
does  this  by  reciting  the  same  divine  preamble 
Amen,  Amen,  or  Verily,  Verily,  from  the  mouth  of 
Christ,  which  ushers  in  His  own  solemn  declaration 
concerning  each  of  the  two  Sacraments,  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  tinto you,  Except —  (John  iii.  5  ;  vi.  53). 

In  the  one  case,  when  speaking  of  the  Sacrament 
of  Baptism,  Christ  uses  the  singular  number  ("I  say 
unto  iheel'  and  "  P>xcept  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God  ''),  because  it  is  necessary  for  every  one  singly  and 
individually  to  be  regenerate,  or  born  anew,  by  water 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  Holy  Sacrament  of 
Baptism,  if  he  is  to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ;  as 
it  was  needful  for  every  Israelite  singly  to  be  circum- 
cised, if  he  would  not  be  cut  off  from  God's  people 
(Gen.  xvii.  1-4).  And  in  speaking  of  the  other  Sacra- 
ment He  uses  the  plural  number,  "  Except  j^  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son,  and  except  ye  drink  His  Blood,  ye 
have  no  life  in  you  (plural),"  because  that  Sacrament  is 
not  to  be  received  singly,  but  its  reception  is  a  federal 
act,  to  be  done  in  society  with  others.  It  is  a  Holy 
Communion,  in  which  the  faithful  are  partakers  (as  in 
the  Hebrew  Peace-offering)  with  God,  and  with  one 
another,  and  by  which  they  dwell  in  Him  Who  is  God, 
and  He  dwells  in  them.  And  it  has  an  analogy  also 
to  the  eating  of  the  Passover,  which  v\  as  an  act  of 
communion,  and  was  necessary  for  every  Israelite 
(Exod.  xii.  3,  4,  24,  25). 

In  Baptism    every   one    is    engrafted    singly   into 


HOLY  BAPTISM— BETHESDA,  SI  LOAM.  53 

Christ's  mystical  Body  ;  in  the  Holy  Communion,  His 
faithful  members,  having  been  already  engrafted  into 
that  Body  by  Baptism,  receive  pardon,  grace,  refresh- 
ment, strength,  pledges  of  resurrection  and  immor- 
tality by  loving  communion  with  Him  Who  is  "  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life"  (John  xi,  25  ;  cp.  John  vi. 
54),  and  Whose  "  Blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin  "  (i  John 

i.  7). 

By  two  miracles,  recorded  in  St.  John's  Gospel  in 
connexion  with  two  pools  of  water, — Bethesda  and 
Siloam, — our  Lord  illustrates  His  own  working  in  the 
Sacrament  of  Baptism. 

He  shows  by  the  miracle  at  Bethesda  that  not  the 
element  of  w^ater,  but  His  own  divine  power  working 
in  the  element,  is  the  energizing  cause  of  the  virtue  in 
Baptism  ;  by  His  Divine  Word  He  healed  the  impo- 
tent man  at  that  pool  of  water^  without  the  water 
itself  (John  v.  8,  ii). 

But  at  the  other  pool,  that  of  Siloam,  where  He 
healed  the  blind  man  by  means  of  the  element  of 
water  in  the  pool,  to  which  He  sent  the  blind  man,  and 
to  which  the  blind  man  went  in  faith,  He  showed  that 
when  He  has  been  pleased  to  annex  the  virtue  of  re- 
generation to  the  element,  as  He  has  done  in  the 
Sacrament  of  Baptism  by  His  own  divine  institution 
of  the  Sacrament,  it  is  necessary  to  comply  v^ith  His 
appointment,  and  to  resort  with  faith  and  obedience 
to  that  Sacrament  which  He  has  vouchsafed  to 
appoint  to  be  the  means  of  regeneration  to  us,  and 
which  is  therefore  called  in  Holy  Scripture  the  "  laver 
of  regeneration  "  (Titus  iii.  5)/ 

^  Baptism'  was  also  called  (puTiajxhs,  or  illumi)iatio7u  See  on 
Hebrews  vi.  4,  and  S.  Justin  Martyr,  p.  94  D.  KaAelTat  tovto  rh  Xovrphv 
(pwTicTfAhs,  and  p.  258  A.  and  351  A. 


5i  CHRIST  THE  SOURCE  OF  SACRAMENTAL   GRACE. 

St.  John  in  his  Gospel  describes  what  he  heard  and 
saw  when  our  Lord  was  hanging  dead  upon  the  Cross. 
One  of  the  soldiers  pierced  His  side,  and  forthwith 
came  thereout  blood  and  water  (John  xix.  34).  The 
early  Church,  and  the  best  Divines  of  our  own  Churchy 
and  our  own  Church  herself  in  her  Baptismal  Office ", 
invite  us  to  rei^ard  that  act  as  representative  of  the 
streams  of  life,  and  of  gracious  pardon,  love  and 
cleansing,  which  flow,  in  the  Blessed  Sacraments  of 
Baptism  and  the  Holy  Communion,  from  the  wounded 
side  of  Christ,  God  and  Man,  sleeping  in  death  on  the 
Cross.  "  The  Church,"  (says  Richard  Hooker,  V.  Ivi. 
7,)  **  is  in  Christ,  as  Eve  was  in  Adam,  yea  by  grace  we 
are  every  one  of  us  in  Christ  and  in  His  Church,  as 
by  nature  we  are  in  those  our  first  parents.  God 
made  Eve  of  the  rib  of  Adam;  and  His  Church  He 
formeth  out  of  the  very  wounded  and  bleeding  side  of 
the  Son  of  Man.  His  Body  crucified,  and  His  Blood 
shed  for  the  life  of  the  World,  are  the  true  elements  of 
that  heavenly  being  which  maketh  us  such  as  He  is 
of  Whom  we  come."  And  this  Life  from  Him  is 
communicated  to  us  by  means  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ments instituted  by  Him  for  that  purpose.  "  Hsec 
sunt  gemina  Ecclesiae  Sacramenta,"  says  S.  Augus- 
tine.' 

The  earliest  Christian  treatise  concerning  the  Sacra- 
ment of  Holy  Baptism  is  by  Tertullian,  writing  about 
the  close  of  the  second  century.  He  thus  speaks,"* 
"  Happy  is  the  Sacrament  of  Water,  in  which  we  are 

2  "Almighty  and  Everlasting  God,  Whose  most  dearly  beloved  Son  for 
the  forgiveness  of  our  sins  did  shed  out  of  His  most  precious  side  both 
l^Vater  and  Blood. " 

3  In  Joann.  Tract.  120,  and  Sermon  v.  Cp.  Bp.  Andrewes'  Sermon, 
vol.  iii.  pp.  345—360. 

*  De  Eaptismo,  c.  i. 


TERTULLIAN  ON  BAPTISM.  55 

washed  from  our  old  sins,  and  are  liberated  into  Eter- 
nal Life  !  "  ''  Nos  pisciculi  secundum  Ix^vv  nostrum 
Jesum  Christum  in  aqua  nascimur  ^  nee  aliter  quam  in 
aqua  salvi  sumus."  We  are  born  in  water,  and  are 
kept  alive  in  it,  i.  e.  by  being  faithful  to  our  Baptismal 
Vow.  "  Nothing,"  he  says,  "so hardens  men's  minds  as 
the  visible  simplicity  of  God's  works,  and  the  magni- 
ficence of  their  effects.  So  it  is  in  Baptism.  There 
is  no  pomp  or  pageantry  in  it,  no  sumptuousness.  A 
person  goes  down  into  the  water,  and  rises  up  from  it 
not  much  changed  in  appearance,  and  therefore  men 
will  not  believe  that  he  has  become  an  heir  of  immor- 
tality. Is  it  not  marvellous  (they  say)  that  Death 
should  be  dissolved  in  the  Font }  Yes,  certainly  it  is  ; 
and  let  us  believe  it  the  more  because  it  is  marvellous. 
For  what  ought  God's  works  to  be,  but  beyond  all 
marvel  }  We  marvel,  because  we  believe.  Infidelity 
wonders  and  believes  not.  To  Unbelief  all  simple 
things  are  vain,  and  great  things  are  impossible." 

He  then  refers  to  the  operation  of  God  the  Holy 
Spirit  at  Creation,  moving  on  the  face  of  the  waters, 
which  was  the  womb  of  the  Earth.  So  it  is  in  Holy 
Baptism  (c.  3).  The  Holy  Ghost  broods  over  the 
Water  in  the  Font,  and  imparts  to  it  its  regenerative 
virtue.  After  Baptism  comes  the  Laying  on  of  Hands, 
for  the  giving  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  he  refers  to 
the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Patriarch  Jacob,  in 
the  figure  of  the  Cross,  on  the  heads  of  Joseph's  sons, 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh  (c.  8). 

He  refers  also   to  the  history  of  the  Flood,  and  to 

•  On  the  word  t'x^yv  applied  to  Christ,  and  formed  from  the  initials 
of  the  words  'Itjo-ows  Xpia-rhs  @eov  Tibs  ScoTrjp,  and  thence  applied  to 
Christians,  may  I  refer  to  the  authorities  quoted,  and  to  the  remarks  on 
the  ancient  Autun  Inscription,  in  my  Miscellanies  ?  i.  p.  92. 


56         TER  TULLIA N  ON  BA  PTISM—LA  Y  BA  PTISM. 

the  admission  of  Noah  and  his  family  into  the  Ark,^ 
the  type  of  the  Church,  and  their  salvation  by  water  ; 
and  the  message  of  peace  by  the  Dove,  the  figure  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  He  adverts  to  the  deliverance  of 
God's  people  Israel  from  Egypt  and  Pharaoh  by 
passing  through  the  Red  Sea,  the  figure  of  Baptism.' 
"  Nunquam  sine  aqua  Christus  :  "  Water  was  at  His 
Baptism  and  First  Miracle,  and  on  the  Cross,  when 
Water  flowed  from  His  Side  (c.  lo).  Tertullian  does 
not  say  that  the  element  of  Water  gives  life  and 
pardon  and  grace.  No  ;  God  alone  does  this  ;  but 
He  is  pleased  to  give  them  to  the  faithful  and  peni- 
tent by  means  of  Water  in  the  Holy  Sacrament  of 
Baptism,  which  Christ  has  instituted  for  that  purpose, 
and  which  He  commanded  His  disciples  to  administer 
to  all  Nations  taught  by  His  Word,  Who  said,  "  Except 
a  man  be  born  of  Water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  can- 
not enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  "  (c.  13).  We  have 
One  God,  One  Baptism  (he  says,  c.  15),  and  One 
Church  in  Heaven.  The  ministry  of  Baptism  is  to  be 
exercised  by  the  "  Summus  Sacerdos,  Episcopus,"  and 
by  Priests  and  Deacons,  but  not  without  the  authority 
of  the  Bishop. 

As  to  Lay  Baptism,  Tertullian  adds  (c.  17), 
"  The  Lord's  Word  ought  not  to  be  hidden  by  any 
one.  And,  in  like  manner,  Baptism,  which  is 
God's  muster-roll,  may  be  dispensed  by  all  ;  but 
since  the  Laity  ought  to  be  distinguished  by  that 
modesty  which  is  the  mark  of  their  superiors,  let 
them  not  usurp  the  Episcopal  Of^ce.     Emulation  is 

^  Another  figure  authorized  by  St,  Peter  (i  Pet.  iii.  21),  and  adopted 
by  our  Church  in  her  office  for  Holy  Baptism,  "Almighty  and  Everlasting 
God,  Who  of  Thy  great  mercy  didst  save  Noah  and  his  family  in  the 
Ark,"  &c. 

7  Also  adopted  by  our  Church  in  the  same  prayer.  ^ 


INFANT  BAPTISM.  57 

the  mother  of  Schism.  Let  it  suffice  them  to 
exercise  this  ministry  in  cases  of  necessity,  when 
the  circumstances  of  place,  time,  or  person  re- 
quire it.  Easter  and  Pentecost  and  the  Lord's  Day 
are  most  seasonable  for  Baptism.  But  every  day  is 
the  Lord's  ;  every  hour,  every  season  is  suitable  for 
Baptism.  Let  adults,  who  are  to  be  baptized,  fast 
and  pray,  and  confess  their  sins,  and  make  reparation 
for  them.  After  Baptism  they  will  be  tempted  as  the 
Lord  was.  Watch,  therefore,  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter 
into  temptation.  Pray — pray  more  fervently  than 
before.  And  when  ye  pray,  remember  me,  Tertullian, 
a  sinner."  Tertullian  expresses  his  own  private  opinion 
that  Baptism  had  better  be  deferred  till  after  the  time 
of  infancy  ;  but  S.  Cyprian  and  the  sixty-six  Bishops 
in  Synod  with  him,  A.D.  253,  were  in  favour  of  Infant 
Baptism,^  the  necessity  of  which  they  grounded  on 
the  doctrine  of  Original  Sin  and  on  our  Lord's 
words,  Luke  ix.  56,  and  by  reference  to  the  admission 
of  Hebrew  infants  into  covenant  with  God  by  circum- 
cision on  the  eighth  day  after  birth. 

To  pass  from  Baptism  to  Holy  Communion.  After 
the  miracle  at  the  Pool  of  Bethesda,  our  Lord  crossed 
to  the  other  side  of  the  Lake,  and  fed  the  five  thou- 
sand men,  by  the  ministry  of  His  disciples,  with  five 
barley  loaves  and  two  small  fishes,  which  had  been 
blessed  by  Him  and  distributed  to  His  disciples, 
and  were  miraculously  multiplied  by  Him  so  as  to 
feed  that  great  multitude,  and  to  leave  a  residue 
of  twelve  baskets  full,  much  exceeding  the  original 
supply. 

8  Epist.  64.  Routh,  Rel.  Sac.  iii.  98.  Cp.  S.  Augustine,  Serm.  8  and 
Serm.  10,  de  Verbis  Apostoli  and  de  Peccatorum  Meritis,  i,  c.  30,  and 
Wall  on  Infant  Baptism,  Oxf.  1836. 


58    HOLY  COMMUNION,  PREFIGURED  BY  CHRIST S 
MIR  A  CLE. 

This  miracle  was  at  the  season  of  the  Passover — of 
that  Passover  (it  is  most  probable)  which  preceded 
by  one  year  that  Passover  at  which  He  instituted  the 
Holy  Communion,  the  evening  before  His  Passion, 
when  He  said  to  His  assembled  disciples,  '*  Take,  eat, 
this  is  My  Body,"  *'  Drink  ye  all  of  this,"  and  thus 
explained  the  prophetic  meaning  of  what  He  had 
done  in  the  miracle. 

On  the  morrow  after  that  miraculous  feeding  of  the 
five  thousand  He  preached  a  sermon  in  the  Synagogue 
at  Capernaum,  and  explained  the  spiritual  nature  and 
significance  of  that  wonderful  and  merciful  act. 

Making  a  retrospective  reference  to  that  Miracle, 
and  also  well  knowing  "  what  He  would  do  "  and  would 
suffer  at  that  same  season  in  the  next  year,  and 
having  a  divine  prospect  of  it  before  Him,  He  declared 
the  necessity  of  partaking  of  that  Sacrament,  by  which 
His  Death  would  be  shown  in  all  future  ages  of  the 
Church  till  His  Coming  again  (i  Cor.  xi.  26),  and  by 
which  not  only  that  Death  would  be  commemorated, 
but  the  benefits  of  it  be  imparted  to  all  penitent, 
faithful,  and  loving  receivers  of  that  which  is  the 
"  Communion  of  His  body  and  blood  "  (i  Cor.  x.  16). 
In  that  Sermon  at  Capernaum  He  said,  "Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the 
Son  of  Man,  and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in 
you.  Whoso  eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh  My  blood 
hath  eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day  ;  for  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  My  blood  is 
drink  indeed.  He  that  eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh 
My  blood  dwelleth  in  Me,  and  I  in  him  "  (John  vi. 
53 — 56).  At  the  same  time,  while  the  reality  of  His 
presence  in  that  Sacrament  is  assured  to  us  by  His 
own  Divine  Word,  and  the  effects  of  that  presence 


THE  REAL  PRESENCE:  ITS  MYS7ERY.  59 

are  declared  to  us,  He  appears  at  the  same  time  to 
have  guarded  His  disciples  against  inquisitive  specula- 
tions as  to  the  manner  ot  that  presence. 

The  men  of  Capernaum  were  staggered  by  His 
appearance,  and  asked,  *'  Rabbi,  when  camest  Thou 
hither?"  (John  vi.  25.)  He  had  come  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night.  He  had  come  walking  on  the  waves 
of  the  sea.  No  one  could  trace  His  footsteps  in  that 
night  and  on  those  waves.  But  His  disciples  did  not 
inquire  as  to  the  manner  of  that  coming,  but  gladly 
received  Him  into  the  ship,  and  then  the  storm  ceased 
and  the  ship  was  at  the  shore. 

In  this  narrative  we  see  therefore  a  divine  warning 
against  curious  speculations  as  to  the  manner  of 
Christ's  presence  in  that  Holy  Sacrament,  at  the 
same  time  that  we  recognize  the  reality  of  the 
Blessing  we  receive, — Christ's  Presence  with  us, — 
and  perceive  the  duty  and  happiness  of  all  faithful 
receivers.  Therefore  the  faithful  receivers  do  not 
pry  into  the  mode  of  His  coming  and  of  His  divine 
presence  in  that  Holy  Sacrament,  but  they  believe 
His  Divine  Word,  and  resolve  all  into  an  act  of  faith 
and  loving  adoration  ;  "  O  Lord,  Thou  art  powerful 
and  merciful,  faithful  and  true ; "  and  "  O  my  soul, 
thou  art  happy,  in  union  and  communion  with  thy 
God  "  (cp.  Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.  V.  Ivi.). 

We  have  been  considering  the  Holy  Sacrament  of 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  as  the  Communion  oixh^ 
faithful  with  Him,  and  with  one  another  in  Him. 
But  we  must  not  forget  that  it  is  an  Eucharist,  a 
Sacrifice  oi  Praise  and  Thanksgiving  ;  and  that  it  is 
so  called  by  St.  Paul  (i  Cor.  xiv.  16),  "  How  shall  the 
layman  say  tJie  Amen  at  thy  Eucharist  ? "  i.  e.  at  the 


60  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH 

consecration    of  the    Bread  and  Wine,    and    at  the 
offering  of  them  with  thanksgiving  to  God. 


The  ancient  Church  recognized  a  prediction  of  this 
Eucharistic  offering  in  the  words  of  God  by  the 
prophet  Malachi  (i.  ii),  "From  the  rising  of  the  sun 
unto  the  going  down  of  the  same  My  Name  shall  be 
great  among  the  Gentiles  ;  and  in  every  place  incense 
shall  be  offered  unto  My  Name,  and  a  pure  offermg." 

The  sub-Apostolic  Father  S.  Justin  Martyr  says 
(c.  Tryphon.  c.  41)  that  "  this  is  a  figure  of  the  Bread 
and  the  Cup  in  the  EticJiarist ;''  and  S.  Irenaeus,  the 
Scholar  of  S.  Polycarp  the  disciple  of  St.  John,  says 
(c.  Haeres.  iv.  32,  ed.  Grabe)  that  "  Christ  taught  His 
disciples  to  offer  to  God  th.^  firstfniits  of  His  crcaUtres^ 
not  as  if  the  Creator  needed  anything,  but  that  they 
might  not  be  unfruitful  and  ungrateful  ;  and  that  He 
took  Bread,  one  of  His  creatures,  and  gave  thanks 
and  said,  'This  is  My  Body;'  likewise  the  Cup, 
which  is  also  one  of  His  creatures,  and  owned  it  as  His 
Blood,  and  thus  taught  us  the  new  Oblation  of  the 
New  Testament." 

S.  Irenaeus  also  says  that  "  the  Church,  having 
received  this  oblation  from  the  Apostles,  offers  it  up 
in  all  the  World  to  God,  Who  giveth  us  nourishment  ; 
and  that  she  presents  to  Him  tJic  firstfndts  of  His 
owji  giftSy  according  to  the  words  of  Malachi." 

"  It  is  certain,"  says  the  learned  Editor  of  Irenaeus, 
Dr.  Grabe  (p.  323),  "that  the  Fathers  of  the  Church, 
whether  coeval  with,  or  next  succeeding  to,  the 
Apostles,  regarded  the  Holy  Eucharist  as  the  Evan- 
gelical sacrifice  offered  on  the  altar,  in  the  Bread  and 
Wine  "  (the  one  as  the  chosen  representative  of  all 
solid  food,  the  other  of  liquid),  "  as  sacred  gifts  to  God 


ON  THE  EUCHARISTIC  OBLATION.  61 

the  Father  ;  such  offerings  being,  before  consecration, 
the  firstfruits  of  all  His  creatures,  and  being  offered 
in  recognition  of  His  supreme  dominion  over  all  ;  ^ 
and  also  being  offered  after  consecration  as  the 
mystical  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  for  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  oblation  of  His  Body  and  Blood 
upon  the  Cross,  and  for  the  imputation  of  the  benefits 
of  His  death."  ' 

S.  Irencxus  says  (ibid.  cap.  34,  p.  327)»  "The 
Bread  which  is  from  the  earth,  when  it  has  received 
the  invocation  of  God,  is  no  longer  common  bread, 
but  an  Eucharist,  consisting  of  two  parts,  one  earthly, 
the  other  heavenly  ;  and  so  our  bodies,  receiving  the 
Eucharist,  are  no  longer  corruptible,  but  have  a  hope 
of  the  Resurrection  "  (cp.  ibid.  v.  2,  p.  400). 

But  while  the  Fathers  recognized  a  real  spiritual 
presence,  they  did  not  believe  in  a  carnal  Transub- 
stantiation  of  the  elements.^  S.  Chrysostom  says  (on 
Heb.  X.  9),  "We  make  a  commemoration  of  Sacri- 
fice "  (i.  e.  of  the  Sacrifice  once  offered  by  Christ  on 
the  Cross)  ;  and  S.  Augustine  says  (c.  Faust,  xx.  18), 
"  Christians  celebrate  a  memorial  of  the  same  past 
sacrifice,"  "  Peracti  ejusdem  sacrificii  memoriam  cele- 

3  The  Priest  humbly  and  reverently  presents  and  offers  the  Bread  and 
Wine  as  the  firstfruits  and  representatives  of  the  creatures  to  God, 
the  Creator  and  Giver  of  all  good  to  the  body  as  well  as  to  the  soul  ; 
and  as  afterwards  to  be  consecrated  in  the  Holy  Eucharist.  This 
action  is  very  significant.  It  is  a  consecration  of  Creation  to  holy  uses. 
The  Rubric  of  the  Church  of  England  prescribes  this  oblation  to  be  made 
by  the  Priest  before  the  Prayer  for  the  Church  Militant. 

1  See  the  authorities  from  S.  Ignatius,  vS.  Irenaus,  S.  Justin  Martyr, 
TertuUian,  and  S.  Cyprian  there  quoted,  p.  323,  and  see  the  learned 
treatise  of  Joseph  Mede  on  the  Christian  Sacrifice,  in  his  works,  p.  373, 
where  he  says  "the  ancient  Church  first  offered  the  Bread  and  \Vine 
unto  God  to  agnize  Him  the  Lord  0/ the  Creatures,  and  then  received 
tiiem  again  as  the  synbols  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  His  dear  Son." 

'^  See  S.  Justin  c.  .Tryphon.  p.  296  E.,  wi^h  Bp.  Kaye's  note,  p.  94. 


62        ANCIENT  DOCTRINE  ON  THE  EUCHARIST. 

brant ;"  and  in  his  Epistle  to  Boniface  (xxiii.  p.  267)  he 
declares  that  "the  Sacrament  is  called  a  Sacrifice  be- 
cause it  is  a  resemblance  of  the  sacrifice  offered  by 
Christ"  And  Gelasius,  Bishop  of  Rome  (A.D.  492 — 
496),  says,^  "  The  Sacraments  which  we  receive  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  a  divine  thing  ;  and  yet 
there  does  not  cease  to  exist  in  them  the  substance  of 
Bread  and  Wine  ;"  and  Theodoret  (Eranist.  ii.  p.  126) 
says,  *'  The  Bread  and  Wine  even  after  consecration 
lose  not  their  own  nature,  but  remain  in  their  proper 
substance,  shape,  and  form.""* 

Let  me  here  add  two  memorable  passages  from 
S.  Justin  Martyr,  writing  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  and  describing  the  administration  of  the 
Christian  Sacraments,  and  the  worship  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  on  the  Lord's  Day,  when,  according  to 
Apostolic  practice,  the  Christians  came  together  ^'to 
break  bread  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  '^  (Acts  xx.  7). 

In  his  first  Apology  he  says,"  "As  many  as  are  per- 
suaded and  believe  that  what  we  teach  is  true,  and 
undertake  to  conform  their  lives  to  our  doctrine,  are 
instructed  to  fast  and  to  pray  and  to  entreat  from  God 
the  remission  of  their  past  sins,  we  fasting  and  praying 
together  with  them. 

"  They  are  then  conducted  to  a  place  zvhere  there  is 

'  De  duabus  naturis  in  Christo.    Bibl.  Patr.  v.  p.  67. 

*  Compare  Bishop  Ridley  (Life  by  N.  Ridley,  pp.  620,  681);  Bishop 
Andrewes  c.  Bellarmin.,  p.  184;  Archbishop  Laud  against  Fisher,  p.  256 ; 
Dr.  Waterland  "  on  the  Service  of  the  Eucharist  considered  in  a  Sacrificial 
view,"  vol.  vii.  pp.  34 — 39;  Bishop  Bull,  vol.  ii.  p.  250,  ed.  Oxon.  1827, 
who  says  "  the  Eucharistical  Sacrifice  thus  explained  (as  representative 
and  commemorative)  is  indeed  a  AoyiKyj  Bvaia,  a  reasonable  sacrifice,^'' 
but  he  adds  that  it  widely  differs  from  the  "  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  taught 
in  the  Church  of  Rome." 

»  P.  93  E.     Bishop  Kaye's  translation,  p.  84,  is  adopted  here. 


ANCIENT  DOCTRINE  ON  HOL  V  BAPTISM;         63 
AND  COMMUNION. 

luater,  andaix  regene^-ated  in  the  same  manner  in  which 

we  were  ourselves    regenerated.     For  they  are  there 

washed  in  the  Name  of  God  the  Father,  and  Lord  of 

the  Universe,  and  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the 

Holy  Spirit  (cp.  ibid.  p.  94,  on  regeneration  in  Baptism). 

"After  we  have  thus  washed  him  who  has  ex- 
pressed his  conviction  and  assented  to  our  doctrines, 
we  conduct  him  to  the  place  where  those  who  are 
called  brethren  are  assembled,  in  order  that  we  may 
offer  up  earnest  prayers  together  for  ourselves,  and  for 
him  who  has  been  baptized,  and  for  all  others  every- 
where, that  having  learned  the  truth  we  may  be 
deemed  worthy  to  be  found  walking  in  good  works, 
and  keeping  the  commandments  so  that  we  may  ob- 
tain everlasting  salvation. 

"  Prayers  being  ended,  we  salute  one  another  with 
a  kiss.  Bread  is  then,  brought  to  the  presiding 
brother,  and  a  cup  of  wine  mixed  with  water  ;  and  he, 
taking  them,  gives  praise  and  glory  to  the  Father  of 
the  Universe,  through  the  Name  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  and  continues  some  time  to  offer  thanks 
to  Him  for  having  deemed  us  worthy  of  these  gifts. 
The  prayers  and  thanksgivings  being  ended,  all  the 
people  present  signify  their  assent  by  saying  Amen, 
which  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  answers  to  the  word 
^kvoiTo  [so  be  it)  in  Greek.  The  President  having 
given  thanks,  and  the  people  having  signified  their 
assent,  they  whom  we  call  Deacons  give  to  each  of 
those  who  are  present  a  portion  of  the  Bread  and  of 
the  Wine  mixed  with  water  ^  over  which  the  thanks- 

^  On  the  primitive  use  of  water  mingled  with  wine  in  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, see  S.  Cyprian,  Ep.  63,  pp.  151,  154,  157,  with  Bp,  Fell's  note; 
S.  Augustine  de  Doct.  Christiana  iv.  45  ;  Bishop  Wilson,  Parochialia, 
vol.  vii.  p.  20,  ed.  Keble. 


61    ANCIENT  TEACHING  ON  CHURCH  ASSEMBLIES 
ON  THE  LORD'S  DA  Y. 

g-Iving  was  pronounced,  and  they  carry  a  portion   to 

the  absent. 

"  This  food  is  called  by  us  Eucharist ;  and  no  one 
is  allowed  to  partake  of  it  who  does  not  believe  what 
we  teach  to  be  true,  and  has  not  been  washed  with 
the  laver  (of  baptism)  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and 
unto  regeneration,  and  who  does  not  live  as  Christ  has 
commanded  us  to  do.  For  we  do  not  receive  it  as 
common  bread  and  common  drink  ;  but  in  the  same 
manner  as  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour,  being  Incarnate 
through  the  Word  of  God,  had  both  flesh  and  blood 
for  our  Salvation,  so  we  have  been  taught  that  the 
food  having  been  blessed  by  prayer  of  the  Word  from 
Him  (by  which  food  our  blood  and  flesh  are  nourished 
by  transformation)  is  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  Incar- 
nate Jesus.  For  the  Apostles,  in  the  records  com- 
posed by  them,  which  are  called  C'^j^^/j-,  have  declared 
that  He  gave  them  this  command,  '  Do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  Me.'  '  This  is  My  Body,'  and  in  like  manner 
having  taken  the  cup  and  given  thanks  He  said, 
'  This  is  My  Blood,'  and  that  He  distributed  the  Bread 
and  Wine  to  them  only." 

S.  Justin  proceeds  to  describe  the  order  of  wor- 
ship and  instruction  in  Christian  assemblies  on  the 
Loi'd's  Day.  "On  the  day  called  Sunday  there  is  a 
gathering  together  of  all  who  dwell  in  cities  or  in  the 
country.  In  them  the  records  of  the  Apostles,  or  the 
writings  of  the  Prophets,  are  read  as  long  as  circum- 
stances allow.  When  the  Reader  has  finished,  the 
Presiding  Minister  delivers  a  sermon,  in  which  he 
admonishes  and  exhorts  to  an  imitation  of  those  good 
things.  Then  we  rise  up  together  and  pray.  Then  (as 
was  before  said)  Prayer  being  ended,  Bread  and  Wine 
and  Water  are  brought,  and  the  President  sends  up 


THE  L  ORB'S  DA  Y—  WEEKL  V  OFFER  TOR  V.  6  5 

prayers  and  thanksgivings  in  like  manner  with  all  his 
might,  and  the  People  signify  their  assent  by  saying 
Ame?i.  That  upon  which  the  thanksgiving  has  been 
pronounced  (i.  e.  the  Holy  Eucharist)  is  distributed  to 
every  one,  and  every  ojie  partakes^'  d^nd  a  portion  is  sent 
to  the  absent  by  the  hands  of  the  Deacons. 

"They  who  are  rich  and  are  willing  give  as  much  as 
they  deem  fit,  and  whatever  is  collected  (at  the  offer- 
tory) is  deposited  with  the  President,  who  thence  suc- 
cours the  orphans  and  widows,  sick  and  needy  persons, 
and  strangers  ;  in  a  word,  takes  care  of  all  who  are  in 
want. 

"  We  meet  together  on  Stmday  because  it  is  the  first 
day ;  on  which  God  having  made  the  necessary  change 
in  darkness  and  matter  began  to  create  the  World. 
And  on  this  day  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  arose  from 
the  dead.  He  was  crucified  on  the  day  before  that 
of  Saturn  (Saturday),  and  on  the  morrow,  which  is 
Sunday,  having  shown  Himself  to  His  Apostles  and 
disciples.  He  taught  them  those  things  which  we 
have  now  propounded  to  you." 

Let  us  now  review  the  foregoing  statements.  It 
appears  (i)  that  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Coin- 
mimion  was  an  essential  part  of  Christian  Worship 
on  the  Lord's  Day.  This  may  be  proved  from  primi- 
tive Apostolic  practice  (see  on  Acts  xx.  7). 

(2)  That  the  Holy  Communion  was  accompanied 
with  the  Weekly  Ojfertory. 

Our  Blessed  Lord  joined  Almsgiving  with  Prayer 
in  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matt.  vi.  i — 16),  and 
taught  that  habitual  Almsgiving  is  as  much  a  Chris- 

^  A  statement  which  deserves  attention  in  reference  to  the  question 
of  what  is  called  '•non-communicating  attendance." 

F 


66  WEEKL  Y  OFFER  TOR  Y—  CONFIRM  A  TION. 

tian  duty  as  habitual  Prayer.  And  St.  Paul  there- 
fore inculcated  it  as  an  act  of  Christian  Worship  on 
the  Lord^s  Day  (i  Cor.  xvi.  i,  2).  And  S.  Justin 
Martyr,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  second  Century  repre- 
sents it  as  such. 

In  the  Weekly  Offertory  rich  and  poor  are  united 
as  brethren  in  offering  to  God,^  Who  specially  loves 
the  "  Widow's  mites  ; "  and  they  are  joined  together 
in  thus  consecrating  their  substance  to  Him,  by  the 
reverent  presentation  of  their  gifts  on  the  Holy  Table 
to  Him  from  Whom  all  receive  whatever  they  have 
to  give,  and  Who  will  bless  them  with  abundant  in- 
crease for  what  they  offer  to  Him  for  His  dear  Son's 
sake. 

This  act  of  Offering  had  therefore  a  special  place 
in  the  Eucharistic  Liturgies  of  the  Ancient  Church. 

The  rite  of  Confiiination  after  Baptism  has  been 
disparaged  by  some,  because  it  was  not,  like  the  two 
Sacraments,  instituted  by  Christ  Himself  while  upon 
earth. 

But  it  may  be  observed  that  whatever  the  Apostles 
did — being  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  sent  by  Christ 
Himself  reigning  in  heaven — for  the  bestowal  of  spiri- 
tual grace,  which  is  of  perpetual  and  universal  neces- 
sity for  the  faithful,  was  virtually  done  by  Christ, 
acting  in  them  and  by  them. 

Also,  by  reason  of  the  special  character  of  Con- 
firmation, it  conld  not  have  been  instituted  before 
Christ's  Ascension  into  Heaven. 

Confirmation  is  the  divinely  appointed  means  for 
the  plenary  effusion  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
on    those  who   have  been  baptized.     And   that  gift 

s  Compare  Tertullian's  account  of  the  Christian  assembhes,  Apol.  39. 


CONFIRMA  TION.  67 

could  not  be  bestowed  before  Christ  was  glorified  by 
His  Ascension  into  Heaven.  As  St.  John  says  (vii. 
39),  "  The  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given,  because 
that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified." 

The  importance  and  dignity  of  Confirmation  are 
further  evident  from  the  fact  that  it  could  not  be 
ministered,  as  Baptism  was,  by  a  Deacon  of  the 
Church,  St.  Philip. 

The  Apostles  took  care  to  send  down  two  of  their 
number,  St.  Peter  and  St.  John,  from  Jerusalem  to 
Samaria,  to  lay  their  hands,  with  prayer,  on  those 
who  had  been  baptized  by  St.  Philip,  in  order  that 
they  might  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  in 
other  words,  that  they  might  be  confirmed.  And  it 
is  affirmed  that  when  the  Apostles  had  done  so, 
they,  on  whom  they  laid  their  hands,  received  the  Holy 
Ghost  (Acts  viii.  14 — 17). 

In  order  that  it  might  not  be  supposed  that  this 
act  of  Confirmation  could  be  performed  only  by  tzvo 
Apostles— Peter  and  John, — or  only  by  Apostles  who 
had  been  called  by  our  Lord  when  upon  earth,  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  thought  fit  to  record  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  that  Confirmation  was  administered 
also  by  a  single  Apostle, — one  who  was  not  of  the 
original  twelve, — St.  Paul  (Acts  xix.  4 — 6). 

It  is  rightly  supposed  that  Confirmation  is  specified 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (vi.  2) — after  the  men- 
tion of  Baptism — in  the  words  "  laying  on  of  hands^ 
as  among  the  "  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christ." 

Certain  it  is  that  the  ancient  Fathers  speak  of 
Confirmation  as  ministered  by  Bishops — as  successors 
of  the  Apostles — for  the  bestowal'  of  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  on  the  baptized.     "  They  who  are  bap- 

F  2 


68  CONFIRM  A  TION. 

tized,"  says  S.  Cyprian^  Bishop  of  Carthage  in  the 
third  century,^  ''  are  brought  to  the  Chief  Pastors  of 
the  Church,  that  by  our  prayer  and  the  laying  on  of 
hands  they  may  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  be 
completed  by  the  seal  of  Christ." 

And  S.  Jerome*  says,  '*  This  is  the  usage  of 
our  Churches.  The  Bishop  goes  forth  and  makes  a 
tour,  in  order  to  lay  his  hands  and  to  invoke  the 
Holy  Spirit  on  those  who  have  been  baptized  by  our 
Priests  and  Deacons." 

This  bringing  of  all  under  the  hands  of  the  Bishop, 
— as  their  Father  in  God,  and  the  personal  centre  of 
unity  in  a  diocese, — for  his  benediction,  was  a  symbol 
of  that  unity  of  all,  as  spiritual  children  in  Christ, 
which  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  Church. 

Confirmation  being  the  completion  of  Baptism,  as 
S.  Ambrose  calls  it,"  was  termed  the  ''consummating 
unction  "  {^pL(fL<^  reXeLcoTLKi]).^ 

'■^  Epist.  73.     Cp.  Tertullian,  De  Baptismo  c.  8. 
^  Ad  Lucifer,  c.  4. 

2  De  Sacram.  iii.  2. 

3  See  Bp.  Taylor's  Dissertation  with  that  title,  Works  xi.  215;  and 
Hooker,  V.  Ixvi. ;  and  Hammond's  Treatise  de  Confirmatione,  Works  iv. 
p.  851 ;  and  the  Canons  of  the  Church  of  England  of  1603,  Canon  Ix., 
where  Confirmation  is  called  "  a  laudable  custom,  continued  from  the 
Apostles'  times." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Hostile  assaults  on  the  Christian  Church — ovei-riiled 
for  Jier  good.     First  opposition  from  the  Jezvs. 

S.  Justin  Martyr  s  Dialogue  zvith  Trypho  the  Jezv. 
Other  Christian  Apologies  against  Judaism. 

"  I  WOULD  that  ye  should  understand,  brethren,"  says 
St.  Paul  to  the  PhiHppians  (Phil.  i.  12),  "that  the 
things  which  happened  unto  me  have  fallen  out  rather 
jijito  the  fcrtherance  of  the  Gospel!^ 

These  words  contain  a  truth  which  is  illustrated 
by  all  Church  History.  In  that  History  two  things 
are  ever  manifest.  First,  the  Evil  One  is  always  en- 
deavouring to  destroy  her  by  force  or  by  fraud. 
Secondly,  these  attempts  of  the  Evil  One  are  made, 
by  her  divine  Lord,  to  recoil  upon  him  ;  and  to  display 
God^s  power  and  love,  and  to  promote  His  glory,  and 
to  try  His  faithful  servants,  and  to  minister  to  the 
salvation  of  those  who  endure  to  the  end  in  faith 
and  love. 

The  Crucifixion  was  a  work  of  the  Evil  One,  but  by 
the  Cross  Satan  was  vanquished,  and  the  world  was 
saved.  So  it  is  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 
Whether  the  Evil  One  endeavoured  to  assail  her  by 
means  of  the  Jews,  or  of  heathen  Persecutors,  or  to 
deprave  her  by  Heresies,  or  distract  her  by  Schisms  ; 
all  things  have  been  made  by  God  to  work  together 
for  good  to  them  that  loved  Him  (Rom.  viii.  28). 


70  FIRST  PERSECUTION,  FROM  THE  JEWS. 

The  first  assault  upon  the  Church  was  from  the 
Jews.  St.  Stephen  was  a  victim  of  their  mahce  ;  but 
unless  he  had  been  arraigned  by  them,  the  Christian 
Church  would  not  have  possessed  the  holy  Martyr's 
exposition  of  Old  Testament  History,  which  is  con- 
tained in  his  speech  before  the  Hebrew  Sanhedrim, 
and  which  may  be  called  the  germ  and  pattern  of  all 
future  Christian  Apologies  against  Judaism. 

She  would  never  have  had  that  perfect  model  of 
Christian  Martyrdom, — traced  on  the  lines  of  his  Divine 
Master's  example, — which  is  presented  forthe  imitation 
of  the  Church  of  every  age  by  the  history,  written  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  of  the  blessed  Protomartyr's  death. 

The  imprisonment  of  St  Peter  and  St.  John  for 
preaching  the  Resurrection,  by  the  Sadducees  who 
denied  the  doctrine  of  Resurrection  and  the  existence 
of  Angels,  gave  occasion  to  Almighty  God  to  declare 
the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  which 
they  preached,  by  miraculous  interpositions  on  their 
behalf,  by  the  ministry  of  Angels  who  delivered  them 
(Acts  V.  19  ;  cp.  xii.  7). 

The  vindictive  rancour  of  the  Jews  against  St.  Paul 
(i  Thess.  ii.  14 — 16.  Acts  xiii.  50;  xiv.  2)  made  his 
Christian  love  to  them  more  manifest,  in  his  practice 
of  preaching  to  the  Jews  in  the  first  instance  in  their 
synagogues  (Acts  xvii.  2  ;  xxviii.  20),  before  he 
addressed  the  Gentiles  ;  and  in  his  declaration  that 
he  was  ready  to  suffer  any  loss  for  their  sake  (Rom. 
ix.  1—3). 

There  was  also  another  benefit  accruing  from  the 
persecution  of  the  Christian  Church  by  the  Jews.  It 
enlightened  the  Heathen,  who  were  disposed  to  con- 
found  Christianity  with  Judaism,  and  to  regard  the 
one  as  only  a  sect  of  the  other  ;  it  disabused  them  of 


BENEFITS  DERIVED  FROM  IT,  71 

this  error,  and  disposed  them  to  look  with  more 
favour  on  Christianity.  Judaism  they  never  accepted, 
and  they  never  would  have  received  the  Gospel,  if  it 
had  been  identified  with  Judaism. 

Another  great  and  permanent  blessing  which  arose 
from  the  persecution  of  the  Church  by  the  Jews  was 
that  it  taught  the  world  to  understand  the  true  nature 
of  Judaism. 

The  Mosaic  Law,  the  Levitical  Priesthood,  the 
Mosaic  Sacrifices,  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  and  its 
Ritual,  were  from  God  :  Christianity  also  claimed  to 
be  from  Him.  The  Christian  Church  harmonized 
these  two  propositions,  and  proved  that  she  was  not 
an  usurper,  but  the  legitimate  successor  of  Sion,  and 
the  heiress  of  all  the  prerogatives  and  blessings  pro- 
mised to  the  Patriarchs,  and  announced  by  Moses  and 
the  Prophets  to  the  People  of  God.  "  Novum  Testa- 
mentum  in  Vetere  latet  ;  Vetus  Testamentum  in  Novo 
patet."  "  The  New  Testament  is  enfolded  in  the  Old  ; 
the  Old  Testament  is  unfolded  in  the  New,"  said  S. 
Augustine  ;  and  this  saying  expresses  what  had  been 
shown  by  our  Blessed  Lord  and  His  Apostles  in  their 
interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  in  their 
illustration  of  them  by  the  Gospel.  The  Manna,  the 
Brasen  Serpent  in  the  wilderness, — these  had  been 
Christianized  by  our  Lord  Himself  (John  vi.  48,  49 ; 
iii.  14).  He  had  taught  His  Disciples  to  recognize  in 
the  Prophet  Jonah  a  type  of  His  own  Death,  three 
days'  Burial,  and  Resurrection  (Matt.  xii.  39,  40).  The 
Passover  received  an  Evangelical  interpretation  from 
St.  John  (John  xix.  36)  and  St.  Paul  (i  Cor.  v.  7), 
and  had  been  shown  to  have  been  fulfilled  in  Christ. 
St.  Paul,  especially  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Galatians 
and  the  Romans,  had  taught  that  the  Law  of  Moses 


72  CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

was  a  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ  (Gal.  iii, 
24),  and  that  Christ  was  the  end  of  the  Law  for  right- 
eousness (Rom.  X.  4) ;  and  in  the  first  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  that  the  Israelites,  their  Exodus  and 
Passage  through  the  Red  Sea,  the  spiritual  Bread  from 
heaven,  and  the  smitten  Rock  in  the  wilderness, 
were  figurative  of  us  and  of  our  Christian  privileges 
(i  Cor.  X.  I — II)  ;  and  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
that  all  the  sacrificial  Ritual  of  the  Levitical  Law, 
especially  on  the  great  Day  of  Atonement  (Heb.  viii. 
2  ;  ix.  2 — 28),  were  "  shadows  of  the  good  things  to 
come  "  (Heb.  x.  2 — 10),  which  are  realized  in  substance 
by  the  One  Sacrifice  on  the  Cross. 

Thus  they  had  prepared  the  way  for  S.  Clement  of 
Rome  and  S.  Barnabas,  declaring  the  typical  charac- 
ter of  the  Old  Testament  History,  and  the  fulfilment 
of  its  prophecies  and  ceremonies  in  Christ  (Clem. 
Rom.  c.  12  ;  Barnabas,  caps.  5,  6,  7,  8),  and  for  the 
work  of  the  Christian  Apologists,  S.Justin  Martyr,  Ter- 
tullian,  Cyprian,  and  others  in  their  controversies  with 
the  Jews.  In  a  like  spirit  S.  Ignatius,  the  disciple  of 
St.  John,  declared  that  *•'  the  Prophets  lived  a  Christ- 
ward  life  "  (ad  Magnes.  c.  8),  and  that  "  Christ  was 
the  Door,  by  which  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and 
the  Prophets,  entered  into  the  Kingdom  of  God  "  (ad 
Philadelph.  c.  9).  S.  Justin  Martyr  in  his  dialogue 
with  Trypho  the  Jew,  boldly  assures  him  that  the 
Christians  worshipped  the  God  Who  had  brought 
Israel  from  Egypt,  and  had  given  them  the  Law 
(p.  227) ;  and  that  the  Law,  so  far  as  it  was  ceremonial, 
was  no  longer  binding,  because  it  had  been  fulfilled  in 
Christ,  Who  is  the  End  of  the  Law  (p.  259),  and  with- 
out faith  in  Whom  none  can  be  saved  (c.  44);  that 
the  abrogation  of  the  Law  had  been  foretold  by  the 


JUSTIN  MARTYR  ON  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT       73 

Hebrew  Prophets  (c.  ii);  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  had 
fulfilled  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  by  His 
birth  from  a  Virgin  (p.  262),  and  by  His  Crucifixion 
and  Resurrection  (p.  324,  and  c.  36,  37),  and  His  Ascen- 
sion ;  and  especially  that  the  Cross,  the  stumbling- 
block  to  the  Jews,  had  been  prefigured  by  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  Passover  was  to  be  roasted  with  fire, 
and  by  the  Serpent  of  brass  on  the  pole  (c.  40,  91, 
94);  that  Joshua  was  a  type  of  Christ  (c.  113);  that 
the  Prophets  had  foretold  the  conversion  of  the  Gen- 
tiles (p.  335);  that  the  Christians,  and  not  the  Jews, 
are  now  the  true  Israel  of  God,  because  they  are  the 
Seed  promised  to  Abraham  in  Christ  received  by 
faith  (pp.  347,  352) ;  and  because  they  are  not  slaves  of 
the  letter  of  the  law,  but  fulfil  it  in  spirit;  and  because 
they  have  the  true  circumcision  of  the  heart,  and 
off"er  the  true  spiritual  sacrifices  which  are  alone  now 
pleasing  to  God  (pp.  342 — 347).  He  affirms  that  the 
Christian  Church  was  prefigured  by  the  Ark  of  Noah 
(c.  138),  and  by  the  marriage  of  Jacob  with  Rachel, 
the  beloved  wife,  preferred  to  Leah,  the  type  of  the 
Synagogue  (c.  134).  S.  Justin  also  no  less  boldly 
asserts  that  the  Jews,  who  were  no  longer  addicted  to 
idolatry, — for  which  their  fathers  had  been  so  severely 
punished, — must  have  now  been  guilty  of  some  heinous 
sin,  since  God'  (Who  invariably  dealt  with  them 
according  to  their  deserts,  punishing  them  when 
guilty  of  sin,  and  rewarding  them  when  obedient  to 
Him)  had  now  given  their  City  and  Temple  into  the 
hands  of  the  heathen,  the  Romans,  to  be  destroyed  by 
them  ;  and  since  He  had  scattered  them  as  outcasts 
into  all  lands.  He  says  that  this  their  sin  was  no  other 
than  the  rejection  of  His  own  beloved  Son;  and 
that  their  only  hope  of  recovery  was  in  their  repent- 


74  TERTULLIAN'S  ADDRESS  TO  THE  JEWS. 

ing  of  their  sins,  especially  of  that  sin,  and  in  em- 
bracing the  Gospel  of  Christ  (pp.  347  —  350)/ 

Tertullian  wrote  his  Apology  against  the  Jews 
about  fifty  years  after  Justin.  He  declares  that  the 
Jews,  who  were  a  jealous,  separate,  and  exclusive 
race,  could  not  be  the  people  of  God,  inasmuch  as 
God  had  promised  that  in  Abraham's  seed^  which  is 
Christ,  all  nations  should  be  blessed  (c.  i )  ;  but  that 
Christianity,  which  was  preached  to  all,  was  the  religion 
which  God  approved  (c.  7).  The  Messiah  must  have 
appeared,  because  the  time  specified  by  Daniel 
within  which  He  was  to  appear  (Dan.  ix.  25)  has  long 
since  elapsed,  and  Christ  was  born  at  the  time  pre- 
signified  by  Daniel  for  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah 
(c.  8).  He  says  that  other  prophecies  of  the  Old 
Testament  concerning  the  Messiah,  especially  con- 
cerning his  Birth  at  Bethlehem  from  a  Virgin  (which 
was  indeed  a  sign  or  wonder,  c.  9),  were  fulfilled  by 
Him  ;  that  in  His  Name,  Jesus  or  Saviour,  and  in  His 
acts.  He  had  been  prefigured  by  Joshua  the  successor 
of  Moses,  the  leader  of  Israel  into  Canaan,  and  the 
conqueror  of  their  enemies  (c.  10)  ;  that  His  death 
by  Crucifixion  had  been  foretold,  especially  by  the 
type   of   Isaac  carrying    the  wood    (c.   ii),  and   by 

'  This  argument  is  further  enforced  by  S.  Chrysostom  (i.  p.  576,  ed. 
Savile),  who  observes  that  ?/the  Crucifixion  was  not  a  great  jm,  it  must 
have  been  a  very  meritorious  act,  inasmuch  as  it  was  a  punishment  in- 
flicted on  One  Who  claimed  to  be  a  Prophet  sent  from  God,  and  to  have 
a  right  to  set  aside  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  Who,  if  those  claims  were 
not  just,  ought  by  that  Law  tohave  been  put  to  death  (Deut.  xiii.  i — 3). 

Consequently  the  Crucifixion  would  have  been  a  praiseworthy  act  of 
national  obedience  ;  and  the  Jews — living  under  a  theocracy — would 
have  been  rewarded  by  God  for  it,  instead  of  being  punished,  and  of 
being  outcasts, — as  they  now  have  been,— for  eighteen  centuries.  But 
the  Crucifixion  was  a  heinous  sin;  and  the  Jews  have  no  hope  of  resto- 
ration to  God's  favour  till  they  have  repented  of  it. 


TERTULLTAN—ORIGEN— CYPRIAN,   ON  JUDAISM.    75 

Isaiah's  prophecy  (c.  13)  ;  that  in  Joseph,  sold  by 
his  brethren  into  Egypt,  Christ  was  typified  ;  that  the 
dispersion  of  the  Jews,  in  consequence  of  their  rejec- 
tion of  their  Messiah,  had  been  foretold  also  by  their 
own  Prophets  (c.  11)  ;  that  the  cause  of  the  error 
of  the  Jews  in  expecting  only  a  glorious  Conqueror 
in  their  future  Messiah,  and  in  rejecting  Christ  on 
account  of  His  lowly  condition,  was  in  their  blindness 
to  the  words  of  their  own  prophets,  foretelling  two 
Advents  of  Christ,  the  first  in  meekness,  the  second 
in  glory  (c.  14).  Lastly,  Tertullian  shows  that  the 
Hebrew  prophets  declared  that  the  Law,  which  the 
Messiah  would  come  to  teach,  would  be  proclaimed 
to  all  nations.  This  prophecy  was  not  fulfilled  by 
Judaism,  but  it  was  in  course  of  fulfilment,  and  would 
eventually  be  accomplished  in  the  evangelization  of 
the  World  by  Christianity. 

Celsus,  one  of  the  first  heathen  writers  against 
Christianity,  derived  many  of  his  weapons  from  the 
armoury  of  Judaism  ;  his  objections  were  refuted  by 
Origen  (as  we  shall  hereafter  see),  who  was  stimu- 
lated by  them  to  declare  to  the  heathen  the  true 
character  of  the  Mosaic  writings,  and  of  the  rest  of 
the  Old  Testament. 

S.  Cyprian,  in  his  treatise  against  the  Jews_,  pro- 
duces texts  from  their  own  Scriptures  to  show  that 
in  those  Scriptures  it  had  been  foretold  that  the  Jews 
would  forfeit  God's  favour,  which  would  be  transferred 
to  the  Gentiles. 

Thus  the  opposition  of  the  Jews  to  Christianity  led 
the  advocates  of  the  Gospel  to  examine  carefully  the 
writings  of  the  Old  Testament  ;  to  search  into  their 
true  meaning,  to  declare  that  meaning  to  the  world, 
and  to  show  that  from  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  to 


76      USES  OF  THE  CONTROVERSY  WITH  JUDAISM. 

the  last  of  Malachi   the  Old  Testament  bore  witness 
to  Christ. 

We  cannot  adequately  appreciate  the  benefits  which 
the  Church  has  derived  from  that  investigation  forced 
upon  them  by  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  If  there 
had  been  no  such  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Jews, 
exciting  Christian  Apologists  to  apply  themselves  to 
the  examination  and  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, Christians  might  have  read  it  with  as  little 
intelligence  as  many  of  the  Hebrew  Rabbis,  "who 
knew  not  the  voices  of  the  prophets  read  every 
Sabbath  day,"  and  who  fulfilled  them  in  condemning 
Christ  (Acts  xiii.  27),  and  "  who  have  a  veil  on  their 
hearts  in  the  reading  of  the  Old  Testament ;  which 
veil  is  done  away  in  Christ,"  and  in  Him  alone 
(2  Cor.  iii.  14,  15). 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Second  assault  against  Christianity — -from  the  Heathen. 
Also  overruled  for  the  good  of  the  CJiurcJi. 

In  the  Apocalyptic  Vision  of  the  Seven  Seals,  which 
unfold  the  future  history  of  the  Church,  after  the 
revelation  of  Christ  in  the  first  Seal  as  a  mighty 
Warrior,  riding  on  the  white  horse,  the  horse  of  light 
and  victory,  and  holding  a  Bow  in  His  hand  from 
which  He  discharges  His  arrows  against  His  enemies 
(Rev.  vi.  2), — the  Adversary  of  Chrisr  and  of  His 
Church  is  revealed  also  as  a  Warrior,  riding  on 
another  very  different  horse — red  as  fire  {irvppo^)  ; 
and  as  holding  in  his  hand  a  great  sword  {^^ayaipa), 
the  emblem  of  this  World's  sway,  then  wielded  by 
Imperial  Rome  (Rev.  vi.  4 ;  cp.  Rom.  xiii.  4,  ov  'yap 
elfcij  fid-y^atpav  (jyopec). 

This  Vision  began  to  be  fulfilled  in  St.  John's  day 
by  the  persecution  which  raged  against  the  Church, 
and  which  continued  to  rage  at  intervals  for  more 
than  220  years. 

It  was  first  begun  by  the  Emperor  Nero,  A.D.  64. 
Before  his  time  Laws  had  been  enacted  prohibiting 
all  religions  which  were  not  authorized  by  the  State 
(religiones  illicitae  ;  sacra  peregrina.  Cicero  de  Leg. 
ii.  8  ;  Liv.  xxxix.  8  ;  Tacit,  ii.  85),  and  Maecenas  had 
warned  Augustus  against  allowing  their  introduction 
at  Rome  (Dio  Cass.  lii.  cp.  Neander  i.  118 — 120). 


78  THE  NERONIAN  PERSECUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Nero  went  further.  In  July,  A.D.  64,  he,  in  a  fit 
of  frenzy,  set  fire  to  the  City  of  Rome,  a  great  part 
of  which  was  consumed  by  the  conflagration.^  In 
order  to  divert  from  himself  the  popular  obloquy 
which  was  excited  by  that  act,  the  Emperor  imputed 
it  to  the  Christians,  who  were  objects  of  general 
aversion,  and  whom  the  people  were  willing  to  accept, 
without  further  inquiry,  as  authors  of  any  crime,  how- 
ever heinous,  that  might  be  laid  to  their  charge,  and 
even  to  exult  in  their  sufferings. 

The  Roman  historians  describe  what  those  sufferings 
were.  Nero  threw  open  his  own  gardens  to  be  the 
scene  of  their  martyrdom.  They  were  clothed  in 
skins  of  beasts,  and  then  worried  by  dogs ;  others 
were  crucified  ;  others  were  burnt  alive,  and  were 
made  to  be  bonfires  in  the  streets  to  dispel  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night.  In  the  meanwhile  the  Emperor 
celebrated  the  games  of  the  Circus ;  sometimes 
mingling  with  the  crowd,  at  other  times,  in  the  habit 
of  a  charioteer,  driving  one  of  the  cars  on  the  race- 
course.^ 

The  Emperor  also  published  an  edict  making  it  a 
capital  crime  to  be  a  Christian.^ 

By  such  acts  as  these  greater  notoriety  was  given 
to  Christianity.  Its  divine  power  was  shown,  espe- 
cially in  the  martyrdoms  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
who  suffered  at  Rome  in  that  persecution.  St.  Peter 
had  forsaken  Christ  in  the  garden,  and  had  thrice 
denied  Him.  St.  Paul  had  been  eminent  as  a  perse- 
cutor of  the  Church.     But  such  was  the  force   of  the 


1  Tacitus,  Annals  xv.  c.  44. 

-  Tacit.  Annal.  xv,  44  ;  cp.  Sueton.  Nero,  c.  16.     Juvenal,  i.  156 
viii.  235.     Seneca,  Epist.  14;  cp.  Tertullian,*Apol.  50. 
^  Tertullian,  Apol.  5  ;  cp.  Euseb.  iv.  26. 


ST.  PAUL  AND  ST.  PETER— HIS  WIFE.  79 

truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  such  the  power  of  the  grace 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  inspiring  the  heart  with  courage, 
faith,  and  love  for  Christ,  that  both  Peter  and  Paul 
went  of  their  own  accord  to  Rome,— Peter  from  the 
far  east,  having  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  "fiery  trial  " 
that  awaited  him  at  Rome  (see  i  Pet.  i.  14;  iv.  12) 
(such  is  the  assertion  of  S.  Athanasius '),— to  glorify 
Him  by  their  deaths  in  the  Capital  of  the  Heathen 
World. 

In  that  grandest  of  all  earthly  theatres  they  were 
''made  a  spectacle  to  men  and  to  angels"  (i  Cor. 
iv.  9)  ;  the  one,  St.  Paul,  as  a  Roman  Citizen,  being 
beheaded  ;  the  other,  St.  Peter,  being  crucified, 
according  to  our  Lord's  prophecy  concerning  the 
manner  by  which  he  would  glorify  God  (John  xxi.  19),' 
and  with  his  head  downwards,  as  is  said,  from  a  feeling 
of  humility,  as  if  he  were  not  worthy  to  die  in  the 
same  attitude  as  his  Master.^ 

Before  his  death  his  wife  went  to  martyrdom,  and 
as  she  was  going,  he  encouraged  her  by  the  words 
"  O  woman,  remember  the  Lord."  ' 

What  Bishop  Latimer  said  to  Bishop  Ridley  at 
Oxford,  on  their  way  'to  martyrdom,  might  much 
more  have  been  said  by  either  of  these  tw^o  Apostles 
to  the  other  at  Rome.  It  has  been  supposed  on 
good  authority  that  they  suffered  there  at  the  same 
time,^  if  not  on  the  same  day. 

Their  martyrdom  was  a  bright  example  to  the 
Church.    S.  Clement  of  Rome  refers  to  it  as  a  beacon- 


4  De  Fuga,  p.  713.  ^  Tertullian,  Scorpiac.  §  51. 

6  See  the  authorities,  Tillemont,  i.  181. 

7  Clemens  Alexand.  ap.  Euseb.  iii.  30. 

s  S.  Jerome,  Scriptores  Eccl.  §  5.     Euseb.  ii.  25.     The  29th  of  June 
is  observed  as  the  day  of  their  martyrdom.     Tillemont,  i.  181. 


80  PERSECUTIONS  OVERRULED  FOR  GOOD. 

Hght.^  The  remembrance  of  it  inspired  S.  Ignatius  ^ 
to  desire  death  for  Christ  in  the  World's  Metropolis. 
It  was  a  chief  glory  of  Rome  in  the  eyes  of  Christen- 
dom that  it  had  been  consecrated  by  their  martyrdom. 
"  O'  happy  Church/'  exclaimed  TertuUian,-  "  into 
which  the  Apostles  infused  their  teaching  with  their 
blood  ! " 

Their  tombs  were  shown  to  travellers — that  of 
St.  Peter  at  the  Vatican,  that  of  St.  Paul  on  the  Ostian 
Way — in  the  third  century;^  and  for  nearly  two  thousand 
years  Christian  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Laity,  however 
differing  in  many  things,  have  gone  as  devout  pilgrims 
to  the  **  limina  Apostolorum,"  and  have  thence 
derived  refreshment  for  their  faith  and  courage  in 
doing  and  suffering  for  Christ. 

Such  are  some  of  the  benefits  which  the  Church 
has  reaped  from  the  persecution  under  Nero. 

St.  Paul's  saying  to  the  Philippians,  already  quoted 
(Phil  i.  12),  "  I  would  ye  should  understand,  brethren, 
that  the  things  which  happened  unto  me," — i.  e.  my 
sufferings  for  Christ, — "  have  fallen  out  rather  unto'the 
furtherance  of  the  Gospel,"  was  remarkably  exempli- 
fied in  his  missionary  career  to  the  day  of  his  martyr- 
dom. His  arrest  at  Jerusalem  led  to  his  preaching  to 
the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  from  the  stairs  of  the  Castle 
(Acts  xxi.  40;  xxii.  i  — 12)  ;  then  to  the  High  Priest 
and  Sanhedrim  (xxiii.  i — 16);  then  to  Felix  the  Roman 
Governor  and  Roman  officers  at  the  Roman  Emporium 
Caesarea  (xxiv.  10  —  21)  ;  then  to  P'elix  and  Drusilla 
(xxiv.  24)  ;  then  to  the  Roman  Governor  Festus  and 
King  Agrippa  and  Bernice,  and  the  officers  and  Court 
there  (xxv.  23  ;  xxvi.  1—29'*  ;  then  to  the  sailors  and 

9  Clem.  R.  c.  5.  '   Martyr.  2  and  5. 

2  Fraescript.  Ileeret.  36.  •*  Euseb.  ii.  25. 


Sr.  PAUL— NERO.  81 

passengers  on  the  voyage  to  Malta  (xxvii.)  ;  then  to 
the  Governor  and  people  of  Malta  (xxviii.  7 — 10)  ; 
then  to  the  Jews  and  Romans  in  the  Palace  of  Caesar 
at  Rome  (xxviii.  16 — 31.     Phil.  i.  13). 

His  two  imprisonments  there  gave  him  leisure  to 
write  Epistles  (those  to  the  Ephesians,  Colossians, 
Philemon,  Philippians,  Hebrews,  in  his  first,  those  to 
Timothy  and  Titus  in  his  second  incarceration),  by 
which  he  is  ever  preaching  to  the  world  ;  and  finally  by 
his  martyrdom,  "  being  dead,  he  yet  speaketh."  Thus 
Almighty  God  was  glorified,  and  the  Gospel  diffused, 
and  the  Church  edified,  under  His  controlling  provi- 
dence, by  those  things  which  had  been  designed  by 
the  enemy  to  weaken  and  to  destroy  her. 

The  Emperor  Nero,  the  first  persecutor  of  the 
Church,  having  murdered  Britannicus  (the  son  of 
Claudius)  and  his  own  mother  Agrippina,  his  two 
wives  Octavia  and  Poppsea,  and  his  tutor  Seneca, 
perished  by  the  hand  of  a  slave,  at  his  own  command, 
on  the  9th  of  June,  A.D.  68,— two  years  before  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  (which  had  crucified  Christ, 
and  had  persecuted  His  Apostles)  by  Titus,  the  son 
of  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  about  eight  years  after  the 
martyrdom  of  its  Bishop,  St.  James. 

For  nearl}^  thirty  years  the  Church  enjoyed  a 
breathing-time  of  peace  ;  the  woes  which  fell  on  the 
Jews  disabled  them  from  doing  her  harm  ;  and  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  was  a  fulfilment  of  our  Lord's 
prophecies,  in  reliance  on  which  His  disciples  had 
migrated  from  Jerusalem  to  Pella,  and  an  evidence  of 
His  divine  foresight  and  power.  By  that  destruction 
the  minds  of  the  faithful  were  weaned  from  doting  on 
the  material  splendour  of  the  temple,  and  on  the 
august  ritual  of  its  services,  and  were  raised  upward  to 

G 


82  DOMITIAN.     ST.  CLEMENT  OF  ROME.  \ 

the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  were  taught  to  recognlz.e 
the  true  Sion  of  Hebrew  prophecy  in  the  graces  arid 
glories  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Emperor  Domitian,  the  last  of  the  twelve 
Caesars,  was  the  second  imperial  persecutor  of  the 
Church.  He  is  called  by  Tertullian  (Apol,  c.  5) 
"  portio  Neronis  de  crudelitate."  Like  him  he 
wreaked  his  rage  on  some  members  of  his  own  family. 
His  cousin,  Flavius  Clemens,  Consul  of  Rome  A.D. 
95,  the  year  before  Domitian's  death,  and.  Flavia 
Domitilla,  the  wife  of  Clemens,  were  among  his 
victims  ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  suf- 
fered on  account  of  their  profession  of  Christianity.'' 

This  mention  of  Flavius  Clemens  the  Consul,  and 
cousin  of  Domitian,  and  put  to  death  by  that  Emperor 
as  a  Christian,  suggests  a  reference  to  S.  Clement, 
Bishop  of  Rome,  one  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  the 
Author  of  the  extant  Epistle  written  in  the  name  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  to  the  Corinthian  Church  for  the 
healing  of  the  divisions  there,  at  a  time  when  some 
of  their  presbyters  had  been  ejected  by  the  people 
of  that  Church  from  their  office. 

Some  persons  have  supposed  that  Clement,  Bishop 
of  Rome,  the  Author  of  that  Epistle,  was  no  other 
than  Flavius  Clemens  the  Consul  and  Martyr.^  But 
this  is  not  probable.  A  Consul-Bishop  and  Martyr 
would  have  been  too  celebrated  a  person  to  have  re- 
mained unnoticed  as  such  in  ancient  Martyrologies.^ 

•♦  Dion.  Ixvii.  p.  766.  Sueton.  Domit.  c.  15  ;  she  was  connected 
with  the  "  CcBmiterium  Domitillce  near  Rome.  Euseb.,  iii.  18,  speaks 
of  Flavia  Domitilla,  a  niece  of  Clement  banished  to  Pontia,  but  perhaps 
she  was  the  same  person.  See  Bp.  Lightfoot,  Philippians,  p.  22,  on 
S.  Clement's  Epistle,  p.  257. 

5  So  Hilgenfeld  ;  and,  doubtingly,  Harnack,  Patr.  Apostol.  p.  Ixii. 

6  Cp.  Bishop  Lightfoot's  S.  Clement,  p.  261. 


ST.   CLEMENT,  BISHOP  OF  ROME.  83 

It  has  also  been  conjectured  that  he  may  have 
been  a  Jewish  freedman  or  son  of  a  freedman  of  the 
Flavian  family,  and  may  have  derived  his  name 
Clemens  from  Flavins  Clemens  or  some  other 
member  of  that  family.^ 

This  conjecture  is  ingenious.  But  on  the  whole 
there  does  not  seem  to  be  sufficient  reason  for  aban- 
doning the  opinion  sanctioned  by  Origen,  Eusebius, 
S.  Jerome,  and  Chrysostom  that  he  was  the  "Clement, 
the  fellow-labourer"  of  St.  Paul,  "  whose  name  was  in 
the  Book  of  Life." ' 

It  is,  I  conceive,  more  probable  that  the  Clement 
who  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  was,  it  is 
said,  ordained  by  St.  Peter  himself,^  and  whose  name 
appears  in  the  Church  of  San  Clemente  at  Rome  as 
next  to  Linus  and  even  before  St.  Peter,  should  have 
been  the  same  Clement  as  the  Clement  who  was  "  a 
fellow-labourer  "  of  St.  Paul,  and  "  whose  name  was 
in  the  Book  of  Life,"  than  that  he  should  have  been 
either  a  Jewish  slave,  manumitted  by  Plavius  Clemens, 
who  was  Consul  in  A.D.  96,  or  a  freedman  or  son  of  a 

'  See  Bp.  Lightfoot,  pp.  264,  265,  who  supposes  that  the  famous 
Alexandrine  father  Clement  may  have  been  called  Titus  Flavius  for  a 
similar  reason.  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  adopted  the  name 
"  Flavius"  in  honour  of  the  same  family, 

8  Phil  iv.  3.  The  ancient  authorities  may  be  seen  in  my  note  on 
that  passage.  It  has  been  said  that  the  Clement  there  mentioned  was 
probably  a  Philippian,  not  a  Roman  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 
Philippi  was  a  Roman  Colony  (see  on  Acts  xvi.  2,  and  on  Phil,  iv.  22). 

5  Tertullian,  Prsescr.  Haer.  32,  and  S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  15. 
S.  Irenaeus,  ii.  3,  says  that  Clement  who  wrote  the  Epistle  had  "seen 
the  Apostles  and  conferred  with  them ;  "  he  places  Clement  next  in 
order  to  Anencletus,  who  succeeded  Linus,  who  was  placed  as  Bishop 
at  Rome  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  Bishop  Pearson,  after  a  long  dis- 
cussion  on  the  chronology  of  the  first  Roman  Bishops,  arrives  at  the 
conclusion  (Dissert,  ii.  cap.  v.  sect.  7)  that  S.  Clement  was  Bishop  of 
Rome  from  a.d.  69  to  A.D.  83. 

G   2 


84  ST.   CLEMENTS  EPISTLE. 

freedman  of  his  family.  The  ordination  of  freedmen 
was  discouraged  by  the  Church  (Concil.  EHb.  c.  80)  ; 
though  there  are  instances  of  slaves  becoming  Bishops. 

The  Epistle  of  S.  Clement  to  the  Corinthians  was 
first  published  in  1633  by  Patrick  Young  at  Oxford, 
from  the  Manuscript  (called  the  Alexandrine  Manu- 
script, containing  the  Old  Testament  in  the  Septua- 
gint,  and  the  New  Testament)  given  by  Cyril  Lucar, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  to  King  Charles  I.  in  1628. 
A  Photographic  fac-simile  of  this  MS.  was  published 
in  London  in  1856.  In  the  year  1875  an  edition  of  it 
was  published  at  Constantinople  from  another  more 
complete  Manuscript  discovered  in  the  Library  of  the 
Most  Holy  Sepulchre  at  the  Fanari  there,  by  Philo- 
theus  Bryennius,  Metropolitan  of  Serrse.  A  Syriac 
Version  of  the  Epistle  has  lately  been  recovered,  and 
is  now  in  the  Cambridge  University  Library.^ 

S.  Clement  at  the  beginning  of  his  Epistle 
mentions  the  sudden  and  successive  calamities  and 
disasters  which  had  befallen  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
had  prevented  it  from  giving  earlier  attention  to  the 
questions  in  dispute  at  Corinth.  This  seems  to  be  a 
reference  to  the  attacks  upon  it  under  Domitian,  and 
the  fact  that  these  had  passed  away,  and  that  an 
opportunity  was  given  for  this  correspondence,  seems 
to  point  to  A.D.  97  or  98  as  the  date  of  the  Epistle. 

^  For  the  Literature  of  this  Epistle,  and  the  so-called  Second  Epistle 
of  S.  Clement,  see  the  Prolegomena  of  Bp.  Jacobson  (Patres  Apostolici 
i. — xvii.ed.  4to.  Oxon.  1863),  Gebhardt  and  Harnack  (Patr.  Apost.  Lips. 
1876,  pp.  vii. — Ixxv.),  and  Bp.  Lightfoot's  two  volumes  of  S.  Clement 
(Cambr.  1869  and  1877).  Both  the  latter  contain  an  Analysis  of  the 
Epistle.  The  last  named  has  an  English  Translation  of  it  (pp.  345 — 
379).  Bp.  Lightfoot  with  great  probability  supposes  that  the  concluding 
chapters  of  the  Epistle  (chaps.  59 — 64)  represent  a  published  Form  of 
Prayer  or  Liturgy  used  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 


ROMAN  CLAIMS.     DOMITIAN.     SHEPHERD  OF        85 
HERMAS. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  name  of  S.  Clement  does 
not  appear  in  it.  The  Epistle  is  written  in  the  name 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  Bishops  of  Rome  did 
not  then  claim  any  Papal  Supremacy,  nor  was  any 
such  supremacy  ascribed  to  them  by  St.  Paul,  or  after- 
wards by  S.  Ignatius,  in  their  Epistles  to  the  Romans. 

Domitian  extended  his  cruelty  from  the  nobles  to 
the  lower  orders.  Juvenal  says "  that  "  he  perished 
when  he  had  become  formidable  to  them."  Perhaps 
(as  Tillemonthas  suggested^)  there  may  be  a  reference 
in  these  words  to  his  Herod-like  jealousy  and  malig- 
nity towards  such  persons  as  the  grandsons  of  St. 
Jude,  whom,  as  Eusebius  relates''  from  Hegesippus, 
he  ordered  to  be  brought  before  him,  as  being  of  the 
seed  of  David,  and  aspirants  to  his  throne  ;  and  who, 
being  agricultural  labourers,  cleared  themselves  from 
this  suspicion,  by  the  poverty  of  their  dress,  and  the 
callousness  of  their  hands,  and  who  declared  to  him 
the  real  character  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

S.  Clement^  speaks  of  many  women  as  Martyrs  for 
Christ,  probably  under  Domitian.^  Hermas,  the  Author 
of  the  "Pastor,"  or  "  Shepherd,^'  perhaps  a  contem- 
porary of  S.  Clement/  has  a  vision  of  impending  per- 
secution ®  in  the  form  of  a  savage  beast,  coming  from 
the  Via  Campana.  He  may  have  been  the  Hermas  of 
St.  Paul  (Rom.  xvi.  14.     S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  10). 

Towards  the  close  of  Domitian's  reign,  which  ended 
on  the  1 8th   September,  A.D.  96,  when  he  was   mur- 

-.  Juvenal,  Sat.  iv.  153. 

^  Tillemont,  ii.  20. 

•*  Euseb.  iii.  20. 

•'•  Epist.  ad  Cor.  c.  vi.,  with  Bp.  Lightfoot's  note,  p.  50. 

^  Bp.  Lightfoot,  ibid.  p.  3. 

^  Tillemont,  ii.  ill.     Bp.  Lightfoot  on  S.  Clement,  p.  2. 

^  Pastor,  Vision  iv.  p.  59,  ed.  Harnack. 


86    ST.  yOffN'S  MARTYRDON  IN  WILL;  OUR  LORDS 
TWO  PROPHECIES  CONCERNING  HIM. 

dered  by  his  own  soldiers  and  domestics,  not  with- 
out the  privity  of  his  own  wife  Domitia,  he  summoned 
St.  John  from  Ephesus  to  Rome,  where  he  was  placed, 
it  is  said,  in  a  caldron  of  boiling  oil,  near  the  Latin 
Gate  ;  ^  but  having  received  no  injury  from  it,  he  w^as 
banished  to  the  Isle  of  Patmos  "  for  the  word  of  God, 
and  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,"  and  was  thus 
"  a  companion  in  tribulation,  and  in  the  kingdom  and 
patience  of  Jesus  Christ"  (Rev.  i.  9),  with  confessors 
and  martyrs  of  the  truth.  There  he  was  comforted 
and  cheered  on  the  Lord's  Day  by  visions  of 
Christ  in  glory,  from  Whom  he  received  the  Apoca- 
lypse, containing  exhortations  to  all  Churches  repre- 
sented by  the  Seven  Churches  in  the  Seven  Epistles, 
and  a  revelation  of  the  future  destinies  of  the  Church 
even  till  the  end  of  time.^ 

There  seems  no  sufficient  reason  to  doubt  this 
ancient  testimony.^  Our  Lord's  prophecies  concern- 
ing St.  John  appear  to  predict  two  things,  which  at 
first  might  seem  hardly  compatible.  One  prophecy 
was  that  he  would  drink  of  Christ's  cup,  and  be  bap- 
tized with  His  baptism  of  suffering  (Matt.  xx.  23). 
This  prediction  foretold  anguish  from  some  bodily 
violence,  and  this  appears  to  have  been  fulfilled  by 
his  baptism  in  the  fire  at  Rome.  But  there  was 
another  prophecy  of  Christ  concerning  him,  namely 
that  he  would  tarry  in  life  till  Christ  came  to  take 
him  to  Himself  by  a  natural  sleep-like  death  (see  on 
John   xxi.  22,  23).     This  was  fulfilled  by  St.  John's 

^  TertnUian,  Prsescr.  §36;  S.  Jerome  in  Jovinian.  i.  14;  and  Tille- 
mont,  i.  338. 

*  See  above,  chap.  i.  p.  9 — 11. 

2  More  is  said  on  this  subject  in  my  Introduction  to  the  Apocalypse, 
pp.  156,  157. 


EMPERORS  AND  APOSTLES;  PERSECUTION        87 
AND  ITS  FRUITS. 

miraculous  preservation  and  deliverance  from  his 
Martyrdom  in  will  at  Rome,  and  by  the  extension  of 
his  life  for  many  years  to  be  a  witness  of  Christ, 
especially  of  His  Godhead  and  Manhood,  in  his 
Gospel,  and  of  Christ's  Power  and  Glory  and  His 
Majesty  and  Second  Advent  to  raise  the  Dead  and 
judge  the  World,  in  the  Apocalypse, — till  at  last 
His  divine  Lord  came  and  took  "  the  beloved  disci- 
ple '"'  to  Himself  in  peace  at  Ephesus.  Thus  both 
these  prophecies  of  Christ  concerning  St.  John  were 
fulfilled. 

History  has  described  the  evil  lives  and  miserable 
deaths  of  the  first  two  imperial  persecutors  of  the 
Church,  Nero  and  Domitian.  History  also  displays 
the  contrast  between  those  two  Masters  of  the  Roman 
World,  and  the  three  Apostles  who  were  persecuted 
by  them,  St  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  John.  The 
cross,  the  sword,  fire,  and  banishment,  were  instru- 
ments of  the  Enemy  wielding  the  power  of  imperial 
Rome,  the  Mistress  of  the  World,  against  the  Church. 
But  great  benefits,  under  God's  good  providence,  have 
accrued,  and  still  accrue,  and  will  ever  accrue,  to  her 
from  the  sufferings  inflicted  by  those  two  Emperors  on 
those  three  Apostles,  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  John, 
whose  names  are  blessed  upon  earth,  and  will  be 
glorious  for  ever  in  heaven. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Perseciiticns  of  the  Church  continued — Popular  Ob- 
jections against  Christianity — Apologies  in  behalf 
of  Christianity —  Tertullian. 

"  Sis  tu  felicior  Augusto,  melior  Trajano,"  was  the 
acclamation  to  newly-crowned  Emperors  of  Rome. 
The  goodness  of  Trajan  was  proverbial.  Whatever 
he  patronized  might  be  presumed  to  be  worthy  of 
honour ;  whatever  he  prohibited  or  persecuted  might 
be  supposed  to  be  vicious. 

The  Evil  One  having  failed  in  his  attempts  to 
injure  the  Church  by  means  of  wicked  Emperors, 
such  as  Nero  and  Domitian,  endeavoured  to  enlist  in 
his  service  against  her  those  who  were  celebrated  by 
human  panegyrics  for  their  virtues. 

Such  was  Trajan  the  Spaniard,  the  brave  soldier 
whose  victories  are  immortalized  by  his  monumental 
Column  still  standing  in  his  forum  at  Rome  ;  the  sage 
Ruler  panegyrized  by  the  amiable  Pliny  the  Younger. 
Such  was  the  scientific  and  literary  Hadrian,  the 
enterprising  traveller,  the  patron  of  Suetonius,  the 
destroyer  of  Jerusalem,  the  builder  of  the  "  Picts* 
Wall "  in  Britain,  the  finisher  of  the  Olympieum  at 
Athens,  which  he  adorned  and  made  almost  his  own 
city,^  as  he  did  Jerusalem.     Such  was  the  mild  and 

*  See  the  inscription  on  Hadrian's  Arcli,  still  standing  at  Athens. 


PERSECUTIONS  UNDER  ''GOOD  EMPERORS r      89 
CLAIMS  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

benevolent  Antoninus  Pius,  the  second  Numa.     Such 

was  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  Stoic,  the  scholar  of  Herodes 

Atticus  and  of  Fronto. 

These  were  among  the  world's  heroes  and  darlings ; 
and  under  all  of  them  the  Christian  Church  suffered 
persecution.  The  Edict  of  Nero,  making  it  a  capital 
crime  to  be  a  Christian,  remained  unrepealed  in  their 
days.' 

It  might  have  been  supposed  that  the  virtues  of 
Christians  would  have  conciliated  enemies  like  these, 
and  have  converted  them  into  friends.  Doubtless  in 
course  of  time  the  Church  took  the  World  captive 
against  its  will.  But  the  Divine  Founder  of  the 
Church  foresaw  and  foretold  that  His  disciples  should 
be  hated  of  all  men  for  His  Name's  sake  (Matt.  x.  22  ; 
xxiv.  9),  and  His  Apostles  declared  that  they  who 
will]  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecution 
(2  Tim.  iii.  12). 

The  reasons  of  this  were  manifold.  Christianity 
was  exclusive.  It  would  make  no  compromise.  It 
claimed  to  be  the  only  True  Religion.  It  had  no 
Pantheon.  Rome,  by  the  suffrage  of  the  Senate, 
admitted  the  Deities  of  Greece  and  Asia  and  Egypt, 
with  friendly  condescension  and  liberal  comprehen- 
siveness, into  the  society  of  her  Jupiter  and  Juno. 
Not  so  Christianity.  It  not  only  proclaimed  Mono- 
theism, but  in  tJiat  Monotheism  it  preached  a  Trinity 
in  Unity.  It  proclaimed  also  that  this  faith,  new 
alike  to  Jews  and  heathens,  was  the  only  true  faith, 
that  all  other  religions  were  false,  and  that  the 
reception  of  this  faith  was  necessary  for  all  who 
desired  to  live  happily  for  ever.  A  religion,  cradled 
in    Galilee,    a   despised    Province,    in    a    petty   and 

2  Tertullian,  Apol.  c.  5  ;  ad  Natioues,  c.  7. 


90  CHRISTIANl  TY—  WHY  HA  TED. 

conquered  country  like  Palestine,  subject  to  the 
Roman  sway,  claimed  for  herself  a  right  to  dethrone 
the  Gods  of  the  Capitol,  to  whom  Rome  ascribed  her 
victories,  and  her  universal  supremacy.  Christianity 
came  forth  boldly  to  tread  them  under  foot,  and  to 
trample  them  as  refuse  in  the  dust. 

The  pride  of  the  haughty  masters  of  the  World  was 
wounded,  and  their  wrath  exasperated,  by  such  bold 
assumptions  as  these,  from  such  a  quarter  as  that. 
"  These  men  regard  not  thee,  nor  serve  thy  gods,  nor 
worship  the  golden  image."  (Dan.  iii.  12).  The  cry 
was  repeated  at  Rome,  and  a  fiery  furnace  was  kindled 
for  Christian  Confessors  in  the  Western  Babylon. 

The  Christians  also  were  regarded  as  enemies  of 
Trade  and  Commerce,''  especially  of  all  Trade  and 
•Commerce  connected  with  Idolatry  and  Superstition. 
The  wrath  of  the  makers  of  silver  shrines  for  Diana 
at  Ephesus,  and  their  attack  on  St.  Paul  on  account 
of  the  tendency  of  his  preaching  to  diminish  their 
gains  (Acts  xix.  24),  is  a  specimen  of  the  passionate 
animosity  which  irritated  the  minds  of  idol-makers, 
chaplet-sellers,  purveyors  of  victims,  architects  of 
temples,  sculptors,  painters,  and  decorators  ^ ;  and  the 
charge  brought  against  St.  Paul  at  Philippi  by  the 
sorcerers,  who  made  capital  of  the  damsel  possessed 
with  a  spirit  of  divination  (Acts  xvi.  16),^  for  spoiling 
their  trade,  represents  the  prejudice  created  against 
Christianity  in  the  minds  of  thousands  in  all  parts  of 
the  heathen  world,  who  trafficked  in  oracles,  necro- 
mancy, soothsaying,  augury,  and  witchcraft,  and 
who  derived  their  living  therefrom.     The  bonfire  at 

2   "  Homines  infructuosi  in  negotiis  dicimiir."     Tertullian,  Apol.  42. 

**  See  Tertull.  de  Idololatria,  throughout. 

^  Cp.  Prof.  Blunt,  Hist,  of  Early  Church,  chapter  viii. 


CHRIS TIANITY—  WHY  HA  TED.  91 

Ephesus,  in  consequence  of  St.  Paul's  preaching,  of  the 
magical  Books,  valued  at  50,000  pieces  of  silver  (Acts 
xix.  10),  may  be  regarded  as  an  evidence  of  the  com- 
bustion of  such  literature,  and  of  its  cognate  materials, 
by  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  through  the  world. 

"■  Totam  hodie  Romam  Circus  capit,"  "  All  Rome 
is  in  the  circus  "  or  race-course,  says  Juvenal ;  ^  and 
again  he  says,  ''  Duas  tantum  res  anxius  optat,  Panem 
et  Circenses,"  "  Rome  craves  only  two  things.  Bread 
and  the  Circensian  Games."  But  Christianity  was  an 
exception  to  all  this.  "  We  Christians  have  nothing  to 
do/'  says  Tertullian  (Apol.  38),  "with  the  phrenzy  of  the 
circus,  the  immodesty  of  the  Theatre,  the  atrocity  of  the 
Arena,  or  the  vain  show  of  the  Xystus  "  (the  exercise- 
school  of  athletes)  ;  and  this  singularity  made  them 
obnoxious.  Among  their  enemies  all  those  numerous 
classes  might  be  reckoned  ;  charioteers,  gladiators, 
pugilists,  athletes,  stage-players,  actors  of  mimes  and 
farces,  singers  and  dancers,  tavern-keepers  and 
purveyors  to  still  more  gross  pleasures,  who  received 
no  patronage  from  them  :  even  Schoolmasters  and 
Lawyers  could  not  look  on  them  with  complacency.' 
The  heathen  interlocutor  Caecilius  in  Minucius  Felix  (p. 
105)  says  to  his  Christian  friend,  '*  You  abstain  from  all 
honest  pleasures  ;  you  do  not  frequent  any  spectacles  ; 
you  take  no  part  in  our  pomps  and  processions  and 
in  our  public  banquets  ;  you  abhor  our  sacred  games, 
and  all  meat  and  drink  tasted  at  our  altars." 

Still  more  formidable  among  their  opponents  were 
the  professors  of  Philosophy,  especially  of  the  two 
principal  schools,  the  Stoics  and  Epicureans.  The 
pride,  self-sufficiency  and  sternness  of  the  former,  and 

"  Juvenal,  xi,  195  ;  ibid.  x.  80. 

'  Tertullian  de  Idol.  c.  10 ;  de  Corona,  c.  11. 


92         FALSE  CHARGES  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY. 

their  pantheistic  and  fatalistic  notions  ;  the  scepticism, 
indifference,  and  self-indulgence  of  the  latter,  dis- 
qualified them  for  the  reception  of  the  Gospel,  as 
may  be  seen,  by  way  of  specimen,  in  the  almost  total 
failure  of  St.  Paul's  preaching  at  Athens  (Acts  xvii. 
1 8,  33).  Such  men  turned  away  with  scorn  and 
disdain  from  the  doctrines  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  and  of  the  preacher  of  "  Jesus  and  the 
Resurrection." 

Two  other  causes  of  the  antipathy  to  Christianity 
may  be  noticed.  First,  in  the  mind  of  heathens,  even 
of  such  writers  as  Tacitus,  Christians  were  confounded 
with  the  Jews,  who  were  specially  odious  at  Rome. 
Secondly,  the  teaching  of  the  Church  was  not  distin- 
guished by  them  from  those  Heresies  which  taught 
gross  licentiousness  by  precept  and  example.  Hence 
enormous  crimes  of  cruelty  and  impurity  ^  were  com- 
monly laid  to  the  charge  of  Christians,  of  which  they 
were  wholly  innocent,  but  which  were  rife  in  heretical 
communities,^  and  which  were  erroneously  supposed 
by  the  heathen  to  be  practised  at  the  dim  vesper 
services  in  the  catacombs,  and  in  the  grey  twilight 
of  the  morning,  at  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion of  the  Church. 

Other  charges  against  the  Christians  were  either 
that  they  had  no  temples  and  altars,  and  worshipped 
no  deity  at  all, V  or  that  they  worshipped  as  a  God  a 
man  who  had  been  crucified,"  or  that  the  object  of 
their  worship  was  grotesque  and  ridiculous,    a  "  caput 

8  Qv^aTCia.  lit-nva,  and  OiStTroSetoi  ixii,^is.  See  Athenagor.  Apol.  3  ; 
Minucius  Felix,  pp.  75,  81  (p.  88  ed.  Ouzel);  Theophilus ad  Autolycum, 
iii.  p.  266, 

^  See  Eusebius,  who  gives  instances  of  this,  ii.  13,  iii.  26,  iv.  7. 

1  Minuc.  Felix,  p.  91,  ed.  Ouzel.    Arnob.  i.25.    Origenc.  Gels.  vii.  62. 

2  See  Minuc.  Felix,  p.  86. 


CALAMITIES  ASCRIBED  TO  THEM.     TEKTULLIAN.  93 

asininum  "  on  a  cross.'  The  caricature  found  sketched 
on  the  cement  of  a  chamber  wall  on  the  Palatine  at 
Rome  in  1857,  and  which  represents  a  man  with  the 
head  of  an  ass,  the  arms  stretched  on  a  cross,  the 
feet  resting  on  a  transverse  piece  of  wood,  and  on  the 
right  side  of  him  a  person  in  the  act  of  adoration,  and 
near  him  the  inscription  in  Greek,  'AXefa^ei/09  aelBere 
(i,  e.  atPerai)  0eoi/,  i.  e.  Alexamenos  worships  his  God, 
is  a  striking  testimony  to  the  scoffs  of  the  heathen, 
and  to  the  Godhead  of  Christ.'* 

In  the  first  and  second  centuries,  after  the  death  of 
Augustus,  the  Roman  Empire  was  visited  by  many 
calamities,  wars,  pestilences,  famines,  floods,  earth- 
quakes. Popular  opinion  ascribed  these  disasters  to 
the  anger  of  the  gods  of  Rome,  exasperated  by  the 
increase  of  those  whom  the  heathen  charged  with 
Atheism,^  and  by  the  diminution  of  the  number  of 
the  votaries  at  their  own  temples,  and  the  falling  oft 
of  oblations  and  sacrifices  at  their  altars.  The  deities 
of  Rome  appealed,  it  was  thought,  to  the  people  of 
Rome  for  the  extermination  of  the  Christians,  and 
the  people  were  not  slow  to  respond  to  the  appeal, 
especially  when  their  passions  were  inflamed  at  the 
public  games  celebrated  in  the  honour  of  their  deities 
with  festal  processions,  and  with  dance,  song,  and 
wine. 

Tertullian,  in  his  Apology  (or  defence  of  the 
Christians)  addressed  to  the  governor  of  Proconsular 
Africa,  which  was  written  after  A. D.  174,'  and  probably 

5  Tertullian  Apol.  16  ad  nationes  i.  1 1,  14  ;  Minuc.  Felix,  c.  9,  c.  28, 

4  Described  in  my  tour  in  Italy,  ii.,  p.  142. 

*  olpe  Tovs  a.94ovs,  Tolle  atheos,  was  the  popular  cry  against  tlie 
Christians.     Euseb.  iv.  15. 

^  It  mentions  the  victory  gained  by  Marcus  Aurelius  in  that  year 
(c.  5). 


94  CHRISTIAN  APOLOGIES  AGAINST  HEATHENISM. 
TERTULLIAN. 

in  the  time  of  the  persecution  under  Severus  A.D.  204," 
represents  this  feehng  with  an  outburst  of  that  glowing 
eloquence  which  characterized  him,  and  which  recom- 
mends his  works,  and  especially  that  Apology,  to 
the  admiration  of  all  students  of  Christian  oratory. 
Let  me  offer  some  extracts  from  it :  ^  sometimes  I 
will  translate  literally,  at  other  times  will  only  give 
a  paraphrase. 

"  Christianity,"  he  says  (cap.  i),  ''knows  that  she  is 
only  a  pilgrim  upon  earth,  and  a  stranger  among 
foreigners,  and  is  not  surprised  that  she  has  enemies  ; 
she  has  her  family,  her  home,  her  hope,  her  favour, 
her  dignity,  in  heaven.  All  that  she  asks  for  is  that 
she  may  not  be  condemned  unknown. 

You  exclaim  (he  says  to  the  heathen)  that  your 
city  is  besieged  by  us  (c.  i),  your  fields,  your  villages,^ 

^  Bishop  Kaye's  Tertullian,  p.  53. 

*  Apologies  for  Christianity  against  the  heathen,  still  extant. 
It  may  be  well  to  enumerate  them  here. 

Greek. 
Justin  Martyr — Two  Apologies. 

Tatian,  his  scholar — Epistle  to  Diognetus — Athenagoras. 
Theophilus,  Bishop  of  Antioch — Ad  Autolycum. 
Clemens  Alexandrinus — ^0.70?  irpoTpeiTTiKds. 
Origen,  his  scholar,  against  Celsus. 

Latin  Apologists. 
Hippolytus,  Bishop    of   Portus,    the   Address  to  the  heathen    at   the 

close  of  his  Refutation  of  all  Heresies. 
Tertullian,  Apologeticus — ad  Nationes — ad  Scapulam. 
Minucius  Felix,  Octavius. 
S.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage. 

To  these  may  be  added  Arnobius  c.  Gentes  Lib.  vii.,  and  Lactantius. 

9  In  both  these  and  other  passages  (c.  37)  he  uses  the  word 
^^  castella"  which  has  been  translated  ^^  castles"  and  ^^  camps  ^'  by  several 
recent  learned  writers  ;  but  ' '  castellum  "  is  the  rendering  of  /cc^/x?/,  a 
village,  m  the  Vulgate,  e.g.,  Bethany  is  called  the  "castellum"  of 
Mary  and  Martha,  John  xi.  i.  The  word  /cwutj  is  used  twelve  times  by 
St.  Luke,  and  in  all  these  cases  except  one,  ix.  52,  it  is  rendered  by 
castellum  in  the  Vulgate. 


RAPID  GROWTH  AND  FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY,  ^h 

your  Islands,  that  both  sexes,  every  age,  and  every 
condition  and  rank  of  life  is  passing  over  to  Chris- 
tianity. We  are  only  of  yesterday,  and  we  have  filled 
every  place,  your  cities,  islands,  villages,  municipalities, 
guild-halls,  the  camp  itself,  tribes,  decuries,  the 
Palace,  the  Senate^  the  Forum.  We  leave  you  only 
your  Temples  (c.  2>7)' 

He  pleads  in  favour  of  Christianity  that  no  one 
when  accused  of  being  a  Christian  is  ashamed  of  it, 
or  is  sorry,  except  that  he  was  not  sooner  a  Christian. 
If  he  is  informed  against,  he  boasts  ;  if  he  is  accused, 
he  does  not  defend  himself;  if  he  is  condemned,  he 
gives  thanks.  He  then  animadverts  on  the  incon- 
sistency of  the  Emperor  Trajan's  rescript  to  Pliny, 
the  Governor  of  Bithynia,  which  will  be  noticed  below. 
He  complains  (c.  3)  of  the  strange  prejudice  of  many 
who  say,  ''  Such  an  one  is  a  good  man,  only  he  is  a 
Christian,"  and  who  never  inquire  whether  he  is  not  a 
good  man  because  he  is  a  Christian.  Even  husbands 
quarrel  with  their  Christian  wives,  who  before  were 
faithless,  and  now  have  become  chaste.  When  any 
one  is  reformed  by  being  a  Christian,  he  is  a  cause  of 
offence.  No  virtue  of  a  Christian  can  neutralize 
your  hatred  of  Christianity. 

He  explains  to  them  the  true  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity (c.  17).  We  worship  one  God  who  made 
everything  of  nothing.  He  is  invisible,  though  seen 
by  His  works,  incomprehensible,  though  represented 
to  us  by  grace.  In  His  immensity,  He  is  known  only 
to  Himself  The  human  soul  ^  bears  testimony  to 
Him,  although  she  is  confined  in  the  prison-house  of 
the  body,  and  trammelled  by  depraved  institutions, 
and  enervated  by  lust,  and  a  bond-slave  of  false 
^  See  this  argument  pursued  in  his  treatise  **  De  Anima." 


96  TERTULLIAN  ON  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES. 

gods  ;  yet  when  she  respires  from  her  surfeit  and  her 
stupor,  and  is  restored  to  health  from  her  disease, 
she  appeals  to  God,  and  exclaims,  "  Good  God,"  and 
"  what  God  wills,"  and  while  she  speaks  thus,  she 
looks  up,  not  to  the  Capitol,. but  to  Heaven.  O  testi- 
mony of  the  soul,  "  a  Christian  by  nature  !  " 

But  in  addition  to  natural  evidence,  God,  he  says 
(c.  1 8),  has  given  Revelation,  in  case  men  desire  to 
search  concerning  Him,  and  to  find  Him  when 
searched  for,  and  to  believe  in  Him  when  found,  and 
to  serve  Him  when  believed.  God  sent  forth  just  and 
holy  men  (Moses  and  the  prophets),  and  filled  them  full 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  as  with  a  flood,  that  by  His  help 
they  might  preach  that  God  is  One,  Who  made  all 
things,  and  created  man  from  the  ground,  and  has 
displayed  signs  of  His  majesty  by  means  of  flood 
(at  the  deluge),  and  fire  (at  Sodom)  ;  and  Who  has 
appointed  a  definite  system  of  discipline,  by  means 
of  which  men  may  gain  His  favour,  and  which  you 
ignore  or  forsake  ;  and  Who  will  adjudge  to  His  wor- 
shippers the  reward  of  life  everlasting,  and  to  the 
wicked  everlasting  fire,  when  He  has  raised  both  from 
the  dead.  The  preachers  of  these  truths  are  the 
Divine  Prophets.  TertuUian  then  declares  their  an- 
tiquity and  the  circumstances  of  the  translation  of 
their  writings  into  Greek,  at  the  command  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus. 

TertuUian  asserts  that  Moses  is  far  more  ancient 
than  any  heathen  writers  (c.  19).  He  affirms  that 
the  calamities  by  which  the  world  is  visited  had  been 
foretold  in  Scripture  ;  and  that  the  faith  of  Christians 
is  confirmed  by  seeing  the  fulfilment  of  its  pro- 
phecies. He  says  that  the  Jews  were  once  the 
favoured  people  of  God,   and   that  as  long  as  they 


TERTULLIAN  ON  JUDAISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY.     97 

were  loyal  to  Him,  so  long  they  prospered  ;  but  that 
their  own  Scriptures  foretold  that  they  would  fall 
away.  These  prophecies,  he  adds,  have  now  been 
fulfilled.  The  Jews  are  dispersed,  vagabonds,  out- 
laws from  their  own  soil  and  sky,  without  man  or 
God  as  their  king. 

The  same  prophecies  foretold,  that  in  the  latter 
days  God  would  choose  for  Himself,  from  every  na- 
tion, people,  and  clime,  other  more  faithful  worshippers, 
to  whom  He  would  transfer  His  favour  in  richer 
abundance  on  account  of  the  capacity  of  an  ampler 
system  of  teaching."  Of  this  grace  and  discipline,  the 
Arbiter  and  Master,  the  Enlightener  and  Guide  of 
Mankind,  was  announced  as  the  Son  of  God. 

He  then  describes  Christ's  Miracles  :  how  He 
cast  out  devils,  gave  eyes  to  the  blind,  cleansed  the 
lepers,  restrung  the  nerves  of  the  paralytic,  raised 
the  dead,  made  the  Elements  to  wait  on  Him  as  His 
servants,  quelling  the  storm,  walking  on  the  sea,  and 
showing  Himself  the  Son  of  God.  He  obviates  the 
objections  raised  from  Christ's  Passion  and  Crucifixion 
under  Pontius  Pilate.  Christ  Himself  had  foretold 
these  things  ;  so  had  the  Prophets.  When  nailed  to 
the  Cross,  He  breathed  forth  His  Spirit  by  His  own 
power. 

Tertullian  then  describes  the  supernatural  dark- 
ness at  the  Crucifixion,  and  His  Resurrection  on  the 
Third  Day  by  His  own  might. 

He  did  not  show   Himself  openly  to  all,  but  to  a 

"  Cap.  2 1 .  The  text  has  "in  quos  gratiam  transferret  pleniorem  quidem 
ob  disciplinge  auctoris  capacitatem."  Instead  of  aiictoris,  ought  we  not 
to  read  aiictioris,  and  to  translate  "  on  account  of  the  capacity  of  a  more 
enlarged  discipline,  or  system  of  teaching  ?"  i.  e.  of  the  Gospel,  dis- 
tinguished from  Judaism,  as  being  extended  to  all  nations.  I  have 
ventured  to  render  it  so. 

H 


98     CHRIS  TIANITY  AND  HE  A  THENISM-  CHRISTIA  N 
LOYALTY. 

chosen  few,  in  order  that  Faith,  which  was  designed 
to  receive  a  glorious  reward,  might  be  trained  by- 
difficulty. 

He  conversed  with  His  disciples  for  forty  days, 
teaching  them  what  to  teach  ;  and,  having  appointed 
them  to  their  office  of  preaching  to  the  world,  He 
was  taken  up  in  a  cloud  into  Heaven. 

He  contrasts  Christianity  with  Heathenism.^ 
Heathenism  depends  on  the  will  of  men  ;  Christianity 
is  from  God.  Heathenism  can  do  no  good  to  its 
votaries.  The  God  of  the  Christians  can  do  all 
things,  and  answers  their  prayers.  We  can  do  more 
good  to  you  than  your  gods  can.  We  pray  for  you 
to  our  God.  We  invoke,  for  the  safety  of  Emperors, 
our  God,  Who  is  Eternal,  True,  Ever-living,  in  Whose 
power  all  Emperors  are,  and  from  Whom  they  derive 
their  power — the  God  of  Heaven.  If  they  doubt  it, 
let  the  Emperor,  if  he  can,  conquer  heaven  with  his 
arms,  let  him  lead  heaven  captive  in  triumph,  let 
him  plant  his  sentries  in  heaven,  let  him  levy  taxes 
on  heaven. 

He  cannot  do  it.  The  Emperor  is  great  by  own- 
ing himself  less  than  heaven  ;  he  belongs  to  Him 
Who  reigns  in  heaven.  We  Christians,  looking  up  to 
heaven  with  outstretched  hands  and  bare  feet,  pray 
for  all  Emperors  ;  we  pray  for  them  that  they  may 
have  a  long  life  and  a  secure  Empire,  a  safe  home, 
brave  armies,  a  faithful  senate,  virtuous  people,  a 
quiet  world,  and  whatever  a  man  or  a  Caesar  can 
desire.  I  cannot  ask  for  these  things  from  any  one 
but  from  that  God  from  Whom  alone  I  know  I  can 
obtain  them,  because  He  alone  can  give  them.  And 
yet,  while  we  do  this,  you  torture  us  Christians,  you 
3  C.  29. 


WHY  CHRISTIANS  PRA  YED  FOR   THE  ROMAN     99 
EMPIRE. 

transfix   us  with  hooks,  you  hang  us  up  on  crosses, 

you  plunge  us  in  the  fire,  you  stab  us  with  the  sworcl, 

you  cast  us  to  wild  beasts.     Be  it  so— the  attitude  of 

a   Christian    in    prayer    (with    outstretched   arms)    is 

ready  to  receive  every  assault.     Onward  then,  onward 

with  your  work,  ye  noble  Governors  ;  torture  the  soul 

praying  for  your  Emperor  to  God  ! 

He  shows  them  that  loyalty  to  Civil  Rulers  is  a 
part  of  Christianity  ;  that  a  Christian  is  commanded 
in  Scripture  to  pray  for  his  enemies  and  persecutors  ; 
and  expressly  "  for  kings  and  all  in  authority,  that  we 
may  lead  quiet  and  peaceable  lives  in  all  godliness 
and  honesty"  (i  Tim.  ii.  2). 

We  have  also  another  obligation  to  pray  for  Roman 
Emperors,  and  for  the  whole  estate  of  their  Empire, 
inasmuch  as  we  know  from  our  own  prophetical 
Scriptures  that  great  calamities  will  attend  its  fall, 
and  that  the  rise  of  that  great  calamity  is  retarded 
by  the  continuance  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  that 
on  its  removal,  "the  falling  away"  will  appear  (see 
on  2  Thess.  ii.  2  —  u). 

He  then  describes  the  character  of  Christian  as- 
semblies in  which  they  met  for  prayer  (c.  39).  We 
are  a  corporation  formed  from  a  common  conscious- 
ness of  religion,  from  oneness  of  discipline,  and  from 
the  bond  of  hope.  We  come  together  to  meet  God, 
in  order  that  as  by  an  armed  force  we  may  assail 
Him  with  prayer.  Such  violence  is  pleasing  to  Him. 
We  pray  for  kings,  for  their  ministers,  and  for  powers  ; 
for  the  world,  for  public  peace,  for  the  delay  of  the 
End.^  We  come  together  to  be  admonished  by 
divine  writings,  whensoever  the  character  of  the  pre- 
sent times  either  constrains  us  to  premonish  by 
prophecy,  or  to  recognize  any  fulfilment  of  it.     We 

H  2 


100  PUBLIC  ASSEMBLIES  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

feed  our  faith  on  divine  words,  we  excite  our  hope, 
and  stabhsh  our  faith.  In  the  same  assembhes  are 
exhortations,  penalties,  and  divine  censure.  Great 
is  the  weight  of  such  judgments  given  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  presence  of  God.  They  are  a  re- 
hearsal of  the  Judgment  to  come,  if  any  one  has  been 
guilty  of  such  a  sin  as  for  it  to  be  put  out  of  com- 
munion in  prayer  and  Church-assemblies,  and  all 
holy  intercourse.  Approved  Presbyters  preside  in 
those  assemblies,  men  who  have  gained  their  place 
not  by  money,  but  by  merit.  None  of  the  things  of 
God  are  sold  with  us  for  a  price.  We  have  a  common 
chest,  supplied  by  offerings,  monthly  or  whenever 
any  one  wills  ;  for  the  offerings  are  voluntary,  and 
none  are  compelled  to  make  them.  This  is  our  bank 
of  piety.  It  is  expended  in  feeding  and  burying  the 
poor  and  orphans  and  aged  who  are  past  work,  and 
the  shipwrecked,  and  those  who  are  in  the  mines, 
or  in  banishment,  or  in  prison  for  the  faith's  sake. 
These  works  of  charity  have  brought  on  us  a  stigma 
from  some.  See,  say  they,  how  these  men  love  one 
another !  for  they  themselves  hate  one  another.  See 
how  these  men  are  ready  to  die  for  one  another,  for 
they  are  more  ready  to  kill  one  another.  He  de- 
scribes (c.  39),  the  Christian  love-feasts  [cf^aira^)^  and 
vindicates  their  character  from  heathen  calumnies.'* 
We  do  not  begin  our  meal  without  prayer.  We  eat 
and  drink  with  temperance  and  sobriety,  as  those 
who  remember  that  at  night-time  they  must  worship 
God.  We  converse  with  one  another  as  those  who 
know  that  God  is  listening  to  us.  After  the  washing 
of  our  hands,  and  when  the  lights  are  brought  in,  the 
faithful  are  invited  to  join  in  singing  hymns  and 
■*  See  above,  p.  92. 


' '  CHRISTIANOS  AD  LE ONEM ''—RE PL  V.  101 

psalms,  according  as  every  one  is  qualified,  from 
Holy  Scripture  or  from  his  own  ability.  All  is  con- 
ducted with  modesty  and  purity :  our  meeting  ends 
with  prayer  as  it  began. 

And  yet,  though  all  our  assemblies  have  this 
character,  we  are  objects  of  popular  hatred.  "  Of 
every  public  calamity,"  he  exclaims, "  of  every  popular 
distress,  ye  say  that  the  Christians  are  the  cause" 
(c.  40).  If  the  Tiber  rises  up  to  your  walls,  or  if  the 
Nile  does  not  rise  to  your  fields  ;  if  the  heaven  is  fast 
bound,  if  the  earth  quakes,  if  there  is  famine,  if  there  is 
pestilence — "The  Christians  to  the  Lion  !"  is  the  cry.^ 

It  is  urged  against  us  •^  that  we  are  useless  and 
unprofitable.  But  how  can  this  be  true  of  us  who 
dwell  with  you,  eat  with  you,  dress  as  you  do,  and 
have  the  same  means  and  needs  as  you  have  ?  We 
are  not  Brahmins,  nor  Indian  Gymnosophists,  nor 
dwellers  in  woods,  nor  outlaws.  We  acknowledge 
what  we  owe  to  God,  our  Lord  and  Creator;  we  reject 
no  fruit  of  His  words  ;  in  good  truth,  we  practise 
temperance  that  we  may  not  abuse  His  creatures. 
Therefore  we  dwell  in  this  world  with  you  ;  we  do 
not  shun  your  forums,  your  shambles,  your  baths,  your 
shops,  your  workshops,  your  inns,  your  fairs  ;  we 
sail  with  you,  we  serve  in  the  army  with  you  ;  we 
travel  into  the  country  with  you,  traffic  with  you  ; 
we  interchange  arts  with  you,  and  hire  ourselves  to 
your  service.  How  can  we  be  said  to  be  profitless  to 
you,  with  whom,  and  by  whom,  we  live  ?  Though  I 
do  not  frequent  your  religious  ceremonies,  still  I  am 
a  man.     Though  we  are  persecuted  by  you,  yet  (he 

5  "ChristianosadLeonem."  Observe  the  w^/?t  of  the  origina'Y"  "  "  "V 
It  was,  no  doubt,  a  popular  song  in  the  streets  of  Rome  and  elsewhere. 

6  C.  41. 


102  GL  OR  Y  OF  SUFFERING— E  VOL  UTION. 

says)  we  grow.     We  are   of  yesterday,  and  we  have 
filled  the  world/     In  vain  does  the  populace  exult  in 
our  destruction.^     What  they  demand   against  us  is 
our  joy.     We  prefer  to  die  rather  than  to  fall  from 
God.     Our  battle  is  to  be  summoned  to  trial,  in  order 
to  fight  for  the  Truth   at  the  hazard  of  life.     It  is 
Victory  to    gain    that   for   which    one    fights.      Our 
Victory  is  the  glory  of  pleasing  God  ;  our  spoil  is 
Life  Eternal.     We  conquer  by  being  killed.     Call  us, 
if  you  will,  men  of  the  faggot,  or  of  the  half-axle  (in 
which  we  are  burnt  or  racked) .     This  is  our  dress  of 
victory,  this   our  triumphal   robe    of   conquest,  this 
)ur   chariot    of    triumph.      Therefore,    on,    on   with 
your  work  !  popular  you  will  be,  if  you  immolate  us, 
torture  us,  execrate  us,  crush  us  ;  your  cruelty  is  the 
trial  of  our  conscience  ;  God  permits  us  to  sufTer  these 
things,  in   order  that  it  may  be   seen  by  all  that  we 
prefer  to  suffer    death    rather  than    to    commit  sin. 
Your  cruelty,  even  the  most  exquisite,  is  of  no  avail 
against  us.     It  is    rather  that  which  is  our  hire  ;  it 
draws  converts   to   us.     We    grov/  by   being   mown 
down.     The  blood  of  Christians   is  the  seed  of  the 
Church.     Therefore  we  thank   God  for  what  you  do 
to    us.     When  we    are    condemned    by  you,  we   are 
acquitted  by  Him. 

In  chapter  48  Tertullian  anticipates  the  modern 
theory  of  human  evolution.  Laberius  tells  us,  he  says, 
from  Pythagoras,  that  a  man  may  come  forth  from  a 
mule,  or  a  snake  from  a  woman,  and  teaches  men  to 
abstain  from  animal  food,  lest  by  feeding  on  beef 
they  should  be  dining  on  their  grandfather.  But  the 
Christian  believes  that  the  man  will  rise  hereafter  in 
his  identity  ;  that  Caius  will  be  reproduced  out  of 
7  C.  37.     See  above,  p.  94.  s  c.  49. 


RESURRECTION  OF  7 HE  BODY—'^ADSCAPULAM."    103 

the  grave  from  Caius  ;  and  for  saying  this,  we  are 
pelted  with  stones  by  the  populace.  He  argues  for 
the  resurrection  of  the  body  from  the  fact  that  the 
soul  cannot  do  good  or  evil  in  this  life  without  the 
body  ;  that  therefore  the  body  will  rise  to  share  in  the 
soul's  reward  or  punishment  hereafter.  But  (you 
may  ask)  how  can  dissolved  matter  be  re-united  ? 
Consider,  O  man,  what  thou  wast  before  thou  wast 
born.  Nothing.  Cannot  He  who  made  thee  from 
nothing  re-make  thee  from  the  dust  .?  He  appeals 
to  the  daily  and  yearly  resurrections  in  the  natural 
world.  Day  dies  into  night,  and  rises  again  ;  the 
Seasons  end  and  begin  afresh  ;  the  Fruits  of  the  earth 
perish  and  revive.  All  things  live  by  dying.  And 
when  all  these  things  revive,  is  it  possible  that  thou, 
O  Man, — thou  a  creature  of  so  great  dignity,  —  thou  the 
lord  of  all  these  natural  things  which  revive,  shouldst 
die  in  order  to  perish  .'^  No,  no  ;  into  whatever  matter 
thou  art  dissolved,  merged,  destroyed,  abolished  into 
nothingness,  that  matter  will  give  thee  up  again  ; 
that  very  nothingness  belongs  to  Him  Who  is  the 
Lord  of  all  things.  He  then  speaks  of  the  future 
Judgment  of  the  world  by  fire,  and  of  everlasting 
rewards  and  everlasting  punishments ;  he  declares 
that  it  is  the  belief  in  these  things  which  makes 
Christians  what  they  are. 

TertuUian's  Apology  was  followed,  after  an  interval 
of  some  years  (certainly  after  A.D.  2 1 1  ^),  by  a  short 
address  to  Scapula,  Governor  of  a  province  of  Africa. 
It  would  seem  that  persecution  was  then  raging  in 
that  country  (c.  4).  He  repeats  much  that  he  had 
already  said  in  his  Apology.  He  says  (c.  2),  It  is  no 
part  of  religion  to  force  religion,  which  ought  to  be 
^  See  Bp.  Kaye's  Tertullian,  p.  55.     Tillemont,  iii.  227. 


104  TERTULLIAN'S  ''AD  SCAPULAMr 

embraced  willingly.     All  true  sacrifices  are  free-will 
offerings.     He  reiterates    his    assertion  of  Christian 
loyalty  to   kings,  and  declares    that    kingdoms  will 
perish  if  they  persecute  Christianity,  and  that  all  who 
assail  the  Church  will  be  called  to  a  strict  account  at 
the  Day  of  Doom.     Take  heed,  he  says  (c.  4),  to  the 
future.     We,  who  fear  nothing,  do  not  wish  to  terrify 
you,  but  we  desire  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  not  to 
fight  against  God.     He  appeals  to  the  Governor  for 
mercy,  and  refers  him  to  the  examples  of  wise  rulers  ^ 
who  were  merciful  to  Christianity ;  and  pleads  the 
benefits  conferred   on  the  Empire  by  the  prayers  of 
Christians  ;  and  declares  the  blessings   bestowed   on 
society  by  their  virtuous   example.      But,    after  all, 
we  shall  triumph  over  persecution.     The  fiercer  our 
trial,  the    nobler   our  triumph.     Your  cruelty  is  our 
glory ;  and  we  are  too  numerous  for  destruction  ;  we 
thrive  by  persecution.    Consider  the  loss  of  population 
which  Carthage  would  suffer  by  our  decimation,  and 
not  only  in  numbers,  but  in  the  dignity  of  her  citizens. 
Some  of  your  noble    and  gentle  friends  are  in  our 
ranks.     Therefore    spare   thyself, — if  thou    wilt   not 
spare   us  ;  spare  Carthage,   spare  thy  province.     We 
have  no  master  but  God  ;  He  is   supreme  over  thee ; 
thou  canst  not  hide  thyself  from  Him,  nor  injure  Him. 
This  sect  of  ours  will   never  fail ;  nay,  the  more  it  is 
slain,  the  more  it  will  grow.     Men  who  witness  our 
patience  in  suffering,  will  be  staggered  by  it,  and  will 
ask  the  cause  ;  and  when  they  have  learnt  the  reason, 
then  they  will  embrace  the  truth." 

Such  is  the  language  of  Tertullian   at  the   end  of 
the  second,  and  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  third  century. 

^'  Cp,  Apol.  c.  5. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Apologies  continued — Epistle  to  Diognettis — Miniiciiis 
Felix — Origen  against  Celstcs. 

The  foregoing  description  of  Christian  life  by  Ter- 
tullian  may  be  appropriately  followed  by  the  repre- 
sentation given  of  it  by  the  ancient  Author— writing 
in  Greek, — of  the  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  usually 
printed  in  editions  of  Justin  Martyr/  who  was  pro- 
bably contemporary  with  him  ;  and  which  anticipates 
Athanasius  "on  the  Incarnation"  (see  below  p,  107). 
"  Christians  (he  says,  cap.  4)  are  not  distinguished 
from  other  men  by  country,  language,  or  customs. 
They  do  not  dwell  in  separate  cities,  or  speak  a 
special  dialect,  or  lead  any  singular  kind  of  life. 
They  dwell  in  cities,  Greek  or  barbarian,  according  as 
their  lot  in  life  is  cast ;  and  accommodate  themselves  to 
national  usages  in  dress  and  food,  and  in  the  rest  of 
their  manner  of  living.  And  yet  the  constitution  of 
their  citizenship  is  extraordinary  and  confessedly 
marvellous.  They  dwell  in  their  own  country,  but  as 
strangers.  They  are  sharers  in  everything  as  citizens, 
and  endure  everything  as  foreigners.     To  them  every 

1  Tom.  ii.  p.  464,  ed.  Otto,  Jena  1842,  and  p.  233,  ed.  Marau,  Paris, 
1742,  in  which  are  contained  alsoTatiani  Assyrii  contra  Graecos,  p.  241  ; 
Athenagorse  Legatio  pro  Christianis  ad  Marcum  Aurelium,  p.  279  ;  de 
Resurrectione,  p.  314  ;  Theophilus  ad  Autolycum,  p.  338  ;  Quaestiones 
ad  Orthodoxos,  p,  440. 


106  EPISTLE  TO  DIOGNETUS:  PORTRAIT  OF 

CHRISTIANS. 

foreign  land  is  a  fatherland,  and  every  fatherland  is 
foreign.  They  are  in  the  flesh,  but  do  not  live  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh  ;  they  dwell  on  earth,  but  are  citizens 
of  heaven  ;  they  obey  the  laws,  but  live  above  the 
laws  ;  they  love  all  men,  and  are  hated  by  all.  They 
are  not  known,  and  are  condemned  ;  they  are  slain, 
and  are  made  alive  ;  they  are  poor,  and  make  many 
rich  ;  they  lack  all  things,  and  abound  in  everything. 
They  are  disgraced,  and  are  glorified  by  disgrace  ; 
they  are  blasphemed,  and  are  justified  ;  they  are  re- 
viled, and  bless ;  they  do  well,  and  are  punished  as  evil- 
doers ;  and  when  they  are  punished,  they  rejoice  as 
being  made  alive  ;  they  are  assailed  as  aliens  by  the 
Jews,  and  are  persecuted  by  the  Greeks  ;  and  they 
who  hate  them  can  give  no  reason  for  their  hatred. 

In  a  word.  Christians  are  in  the  world  what  the  soul 
is  in  the  body.  The  soul  is  difi"used  throughout  the 
members  of  the  body  ;  so  are  Christians  throughout 
the  cities  of  the  world.  The  soul  dwells  in  the  body, 
but  is  not  of  the  body  ;  so  Christians  are  in  the  world, 
but  not  of  the  world.  The  soul  is  in  the  body,  but  in- 
visible ;  so  Christians  are  in  the  world,  but  their  reli- 
gion is  not  known  to  it.  The  soul  is  a  prisoner  in  the 
body,  and  keeps  the  body  together  ;  so  Christians  are 
kept  like  prisoners  in  the  world,  but  the  world  is  held 
together  by  them.  The  immortal  soul  dwells  in  the 
mortal  body  ;  so  Christians  sojourn  on  earth  in  what 
is  corruptible,  and  look  for  incorruption  in  heaven. 

Their  religion  is  not  an  earthly  invention  or  a  mor- 
tal device,  or  a  dispensation  of  human  mysteries  ;  but 
has  been  received  by  them  from  above.  The 
Almighty  and  Invisible  God,  the  Creator  of  the 
Universe,  has  given  the  Truth  from  heaven,  and  has 
established  and  settled  in  their  heart  His  Holy  and 


CHRIST S  GODHEAD— REASONS  FOR  THE         ].07 
INCARNA  TION. 

Incomprehensible  Word  (the  Logos).  Not,  as  some 
may  imagine,  has  He  sent  to  men  a  Servant  or  an 
Angel,  or  earthly  Prince  or  Potentate,  or  even  one  who 
is  entrusted  with  heavenly  ministries;  but  He  has  sent 
the  very  Artificer  and  Creator  of  the  World,  by  Whom 
He  made  the  heaven,  and  shut  up  the  sea  within  its 
bounds  ;  He  has  sent  Him  Whose  mysteries  all  the 
Elements  faithfully  keep  ;  Him  from  Whom  the  Sun 
has  received  the  measures  of  the  Day  to  observe  ; 
Him  Whose  commands  the  Moon  fulfils  to  shine  by 
night ;  Him  Whom  the  Stars  also  obey  in  their  com- 
panionship of  the  Moon  in  her  courses ;  Him  by  Whom 
all  things  were  ordered  and  defined,  and  to  Whom 
the  heavens  are  subject,  and  all  things  in  the  heavens, 
and  the  Earth  and  Sea  and  all  things  therein,  and  Fire 
and  Air,  Depth  and  Height  and  Midst;— Him  God  hath 
sent  to  men,  not  in  terror,  but  in  equity  and  gentleness. 
As  King  He  sent  His  Son— a  King  and  God.  He 
has  sent  Him  in  love  to  save  ;  but  He  will  send  Him 
hereafter  to  judge — and  Who  shall  abide  the  day  of 
His  Coming  ? 

For  a  time  God  left  the  World  to  itself,  but  when 
our  wickedness  had  reached  its  greatest  height,  and 
the  fulness  of  time  was  come  for  the  showing  forth  of 
God's  mercy  and  love  and  power,  He  Himself  took  our 
sins  to  Himself,  and  sent  His  Son  as  the  price  of  our 
redemption,  the  Holy  One  for  the  lawless,  the  Sin- 
less One  for  sinners,  the  Just  for  the  unjust,  the  In- 
corruptible for  the  corruptible,  the  Immortal  for  the 
mortal.  For  what  could  cover  our  sins  but  His 
righteousness  ?  How  could  we  sinners  be  justified 
but  by  the  Son  of  God  t  O  sweet  exchange  !  O 
inscrutable  handicraftship  !  O  unexpected  benefits  ! 
the  iniquity  of  many  swallowed  up  in  One  Who  is 


108  MAN'S  DIVINIZATION. 

righteous  ;  and  the  righteousness  of  One  justifying 
many  who  are  sinners  ! 

In  the  foregoing  time  He  had  convicted  our  nature 
of  being  unable  to  save  itself,  but  now  He  has  given 
us  a  Saviour  Who  is  able  to  save  the  helpless  ;  and 
thus  He  has  willed  us  to  trust  in  His  kindness,  and 
to  regard  Him  as  our  Father  and  Teacher,  our 
Physician,  Light,  and  Life. 

By  imitating  God,  thou  wilt  be  divinized  ;  thou  wilt 
recognize  Him  as  Lord  of  all  things  on  earth,  and 
thou  wilt  despise  what  is  here  called  death,  and  wilt 
only  fear  that  death — the  death  of  everlasting  fire 
which  is  reserved  for  those  who  will  hereafter  be  con- 
demned to  it. 

These  things  have  been  revealed  to  us  by  the 
Logos,  Who  was  preached  by  the  Apostles,  rejected 
by  the  Jews,  and  believed  by  the  Gentiles, — He  who 
was  from  the  beginning,  and  yet  was  manifested 
now  ;  He  who  is  from  everlasting,  the  Son,  by  Whom 
the  Church  is  enriched  and  Grace  abounds,  and  the 
fear  of  the  Law  is  celebrated,  and  the  Grace  of  the 
Prophets  is  recognized,  and  the  Faith  of  the  Gospel  is 
established,  and  the  tradition  of  the  Apostles  is  kept, 
and  the  Grace  of  the  Church  exults.  With  us  is  both 
Life  and  Knowledge.  Knowledge  without  truth 
puffeth  up  ;  but  Love  edifieth,  as  the  Apostle  testifies 
(i  Cor.  viii.  i). 

By  these  things  salvation  is  revealed,  and  Apostles 
are  taught,  and  the  Lord's  Passover  goeth  forth,  and 
churches^  are  gathered  together,  and  are  compacted 

2  The  Manuscripts  and  Editions  have  Kijpol— which  is  not  intelhgible. 
Maran  conjectures  x^P*"'-  Sylburg  and  Hefele  Kaipoi.  Ought  we  not 
rather  to  read  KArjpoi  ?  cp.  I  Pet.  v.  3.  Churches  are  so  called,  being 
the  Lord's  heritage  Khvpos.     See  Suiceri  Lexicon  in  voce  Kh^pos. 


MINUCIUS  FELIX.  109 

with  decency  and  order  ;  and  the  Logos,  Who  teaches 
the  Saints,  rejoices, — He  by  Whom  the  Father  is  glori- 
fied, to  Whom  be  glory  for  ever.     Amen." 

Tertullian's  assertion  in  his  address  to  Scapula  that 
many  persons  of  intellectual  distinction  had  in  his 
day  become  converts  to  the  Gospel,  was  justified  by 
such  instances  in  his  own  case,  and  in  that  of  another 
contemporary  Apologist,  whose  work  is  characterized 
by  vigour  of  reasoning  and  elegance  of  style,  MiNUCIUS 
Felix. 

The  history  of  his  Dialogue,  Octavius,  is  remark- 
able. Its  title  gave  rise  to  the  opinion  that  it  was  only 
the  eighth  book — liber  octavus — of  Arnobius,  who 
wrote  seven  books,  still  extant,  against  Heathenism. 

But  its  real  author  was  discovered  by  an  able  lawyer, 
Francis  Balduin,  who,  in  the  preface  to  his  edition  of 
the  work  published  at  Heidelberg  in  1569,  referred 
to  passages  of  Lactantius  and  S.  Jerome,  who  had  men- 
tioned (together  with  Tertullian  and  Cyprian)  Minu- 
cius  Felix  as  a  distinguished  ancient  Roman  advocate, 
and  as  the  author  of  a  work  called  Octaviiis^  which 
was  shown  by  Balduin  to  be  identical  with  the 
Dialos^ue    entitled    Octavius   from    the    name    of  its 


3  The  date  of  the  composition  of  this  work  cannot  be  exactly  deter- 
mined. One  historical  personage  is  mentioned  in  it,  Fronto  the 
rhetorician  of  Cirta  in  Numidia,  an  enemy  of  Christianity  (p.  88  and 
p.  303),  who  is  supposed  by  Balduin  (Proefat. )  to  be  the  same  as  the 
Fronto  who  was  tutor  to  Marcus  Aurelius.  Minucius,  especially  if  he 
was  an  African  (as  seems  not  unlikely),  could  hardly  have  been  un- 
acquainted with  Tertullian's  Apology,  if  that  work  had  then  been 
extant ;  and  he  would  in  that  case  have  hardly  supposed  his  own  to  be 
necessary.  He  would  also  have  treated  some  of  his  topics  with  more 
energy  and  clearness  (such  as  the  allegation  of  the  worship  of  the 
"caput  asininum"),  if  he  had  had  Tertullian's  work  before  him.  It  is 
therefore  probable  that  this  Dialogue  v^aspnor  to  Tertullian's  Apology. 


110  AGNOSTICISM. 

Christian  interlocutor,  who  pleads  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tianity against  a  heathen  lawyer,  Csecilius,  and  wins 
him  over  to  his  cause,  in  the  presence  of  Minucius 
Felix  himself,  who  was  appointed  umpire  in  the 
debate. 

Octavius  had  been  staying  with  his  heathen  friend 
Caecilius,  a  brother  lawyer,  at  Rome,  and  they 
adjourned  in  the  summer  vacation  to  Ostia,  for  sea- 
air  and  sea-bathing ;  and  as  one  day  they  were  walk- 
ing together  on  the  shore,  Octavius  remonstrated 
with  his  friend  for  kissing  his  hand  in  adoration  to  a 
statue  of  the  Egyptian  deity  Serapis.  This  led  to 
further  discussion.  They  sat  down  on  the  mole  of 
the  beach  with  Minucius  placed  between  them  as  an 
umpire,  and  entered  into  a  discussion  on  the  rival 
claims  of  Christianity  and  Heathenism. 

Caecilius,  the  heathen  advocate,  professed  Agnosti- 
cism, which  would  formerly  have  been  termed 
dfcaTaXv-^la.  He  said  that  the  discovery  of  truth  was 
difficult,  nay,  it  was  impossible,  as  was  evident  from 
the  multitude  and  diversity  of  philosophical  sects, 
and  from  the  inability  of  the  human  intellect  to 
investigate  it.  With  objections  drawn  from  the 
school  of  Epicurus,  he  alleged  that  the  condition  of 
things  in  this  world  is  one  of  so  much  imperfection, 
misery,  perplexity,  as  to  make  it  very  doubtful 
whether  it  is  under  the  care  of  Divine  Providence, 
and  subject  to  the  rule  of  a  moral  Governor  ;  and  that 
therefore  the  safest  and  wisest  thing  for  a  man  in 
this  busy  life,  is  not  to  puzzle  himself  and  waste  his 
time  on  such  questions  as  these  ;  but  to  acquiesce  in 
the  religion  of  his  ancestors,  especially  when  that 
religion  had  received  such  manifest  tokens  of  the 
approval  of  the  gods, — if  there  were  any, — as  that 


PLEAS  FOR  HE  A  THENISM  A  GAINST  111 

CHRIS  TIANITY. 

form  of  religion  which  was  professed  by  the  Empire 

of  Rome,  the  noblest  Dynasty  in  the  world  ;  and  that 

it  was  an  intolerable  and  monstrous  thing,  that  the 

claims   of  such   an    ancient    and    splendid    Religion 

as  that  which  had  been  accepted  and  practised  for  so 

many   years    by    the    most    powerful    Nation    under 

heaven,  should   be  disputed   by  raw  upstarts   of  so 

miserable  and  despicable  a  faction  as  the  Christians, 

dumb  in  public  and  whisperers  in  secret,  Avho  could 

only  make  proselytes  from  the  ignorant  and  vulgar, 

and  from  credulous  women,  and  who  shrank  from  the 

light  of  day.     And  yet,  strange  to  say  (he  exclaims), 

these  men  have  the  insolence  to  represent  the  Gentile 

tem.ples   as    tombs,   and   to    despise   our   altars    and 

sacrifices  ;  and  they  are  so  infatuated  by  pride  and 

superstition    as    to    encounter    present    and     certain 

death,  in  order  to  escape  future  torments  and  death, 

which  are  altogether  imaginary. 

He  ridicules  the  Christians  for  preferring  burial  in 
the  earth  to  cremation  on  a  funeral  pile.^  He 
denounces  their  practice  of  saluting  one  another  with 
a  kiss  of  peace,  and  their  names  of  brotherhood  and 
sisterhood,  as  pretexts  and  masks  of  most  infamous 
crimes ;  and  he  represents  their  worship  as  absurd. 
They  have  no  temples,  nor  images,  nor  altars,  but 
they  adore  (he  says)  the  head  of  an  ass,  and  worship 
a  man  who  had  suffered  the  punishment  of  a  servile 
death— crucifixion  ;  and  they  even  adore  the  cross 
itself  (see  above  pp.  92,  93). 

Who  is  your  God  (he  asks)  }  One,  solitary,  desti- 
tute ;  one  whom  no  nation  on  earth  adores,  except 
some  wretched  Jews  ;  a  God  who  has  been  carried 
away  captive  in  triumph  from  Jerusalem,  with  his 
«  C.  II. 


112  PLEAS  FOR  HE  A  THE  NISM— REPLIES  OP 

CHRISTIANITY. 

worshippers,  by  the  Roman  People.  And  what 
deHrious  dreams  do  you  invent  and  propagate  !  You 
tell  us  that  the  world  will  be  consumed  with  fire,  and 
that  your  bodies  will  be  raised  from  dust  and  ashes, 
and  that  you  will  enjoy  everlasting  happiness  after 
death.  But  if  all  this  were  true,  why,  let  me  ask, 
does  not  your  God  come  and  help  you,  now  that  you 
suffer  tortures  for  Him  .?  And  how  is  it  that  we 
Romans,  who  do  not  worship  your  God,  and  who 
destroy  His  worshippers,  enjoy  the  greatest  happi- 
ness, and  possess  the  greatest  power  of  any  Nation 
in  the  world  ?  Why  do  you  not  come  to  us  and  join 
us  }  Why  do  you  stand  aloof  from  us  ?  Why  do 
you  shun  our  pleasures,  our  spectacles,  our  festivals, 
and  our  banquets,  our  sacrifices  offered  to  our  gods  } 
Have  a  little  good  sense,  and  show  a  little  modesty ; 
do  not  pretend  to  be  wiser  than  all  the  world  ;  be 
content  to  leave  the  secrets  of  providence  and  of  fate 
to  take  care  of  themselves  ;  be  wise  with  the  many, 
and  be  not  fools  with  the  few. 

Octavius,  his  Christian  friend,  replies  that  the 
wisest  of  men  have  been  despised  by  the  multitude ; 
that  the  existence  and  attributes  of  the  One  God  are 
evident  from  His  works.  He  exposes  the  absurdity 
and  immorality  of  the  heathen  mythology  and 
religion,  and  the  miserable  degradation  of  those  who 
are  idolaters  of  material  things  made  by  their  own 
hands.  He  says  that  heathen  oracles  have  been 
stricken  dumb  by  Christianity.  And  he  asserts  that 
heathen  gods,  whom  he  calls  demons,  taking  posses- 
sion of  men,  have  shown  themselves  terrified  by  the 
adjurations  and  exorcisms  of  Christians.  As  to  the 
worship  of  a  "  caput  asininum  "  (c.  9),  he  says  that 
this  was  a  shameless  falsehood,  which  none  but  a  fool 


MINUCIUS  FELIX.  113 

could  believe^  (c.  28).  Octavlus  says  that  heathens 
themselves  appeal  in  common  conversation  to  One 
God/  He  explodes  the  groundless  calumnies  of  the 
heathen  against  the  Christians;  he  denies  that  they 
worship  the  Cross,  "cruces  nee  colimus  nee  optamus."  ^ 
"We  neither  worship  crosses  nor  covet  them." 

He  who  was  crucified,  and  whom  we  adore  (he 
says),  is  not  a  mere  man.  He  declares  the  Unity 
and  Omnipresence  of  God.  The  World  is  one  house  of 
God.  We  dwell  not  only  in  His  sight,  but  in  His 
heart.  The  Jews  prospered  as  long  as  they  obeyed 
Him  ;  they  are  outcasts  now  because  they  are  rebels 
against  Him.  He  says,  as  TertuUian  does^  that 
Nature  herself,  in  her  cycle  of  seasons,  preaches  the 
doctrine  of  a  Resurrection  of  the  Body.  He  affirms 
that  burial  in  the  earth  is  more  ancient  than  crema- 
tion.^ He  says  that  the  poverty  of  the  Christians  is 
their  glory  ;  they  are  rich  in  God,  and  to  God.  God 
does  not  punish  us  by  calamities,  but  He  tries  us,  and 
purifies  us,  and  glorifies  us  by  them.  He  enables  our 
boys  and  our  maidens  to  endure  the  cross  and  torture 
and  wild  beasts  and  all  the  terrors  of  persecution  with 
patience  inspired  by  Himself.  The  rich  in  this  world 
prosper,  and  are  raised  on  high  that  they  may  fall  to 
a  deeper  abyss.  What  true  happiness  can  there  be 
without  the  knowledge  of  God  1  We  possess  that 
knowledge,  and  being  assured  of  happiness  hereafter, 
we  live  by  hope  in  the  eternal  future.  "  Non  eloquimur 
magna,  sed  vivimus  ;  "  "  We  do  not  talk  great  things, 

5  The  origin  of  it  we  know  from  TertuUian  (Apol.  c.  16),  referring  to 
Tacitus  (Hist.  v.  i),  and  the  charge  was  transferred  to  Christians  from 
the  Jews,  as  appears  from  Josephus  (c.  Apion.  lib.  ii.). 

6  Cp.  Tertulhan,  Apol.  above,  p.  96. 

7  C.  29. 
^  C.  34. 

I 


114  ORIGEN  AGAINST  CELSUS. 

but  we  live  them."  In  fine  Octavius  disposes  of  the 
allegations  against  Christianity,  as  Tertullian  does  in 
his  Apology,  and  does  it  with  so  much  success  that 
Csecilius  at  last  says,  "  He  has  conquered  me,  and 
I  have  triumphed  over  my  error.  I  yield  myself 
to  God,  and  acknowledge  the  truth  of  his  creed  ;  but 
it  needs  further  exposition,  which  we  may  hope  for  on 
another  occasion." 

On  this  we  all  retired  with  joy  (says  Minucius). 
Octavius  rejoiced  that  C^cilius  had  become  a 
believer.  Caecilius  rejoiced  that  Octavius  had  been 
the  conqueror.  I  rejoiced  on  both  accounts,  in  the 
belief  of  the  one,  and  in  the  victory  of  the  other. 

One  of  the  latest  of  the  ancient  Apologies  for 
Christianity,  and  which  shows  that  Christianity  was 
then  attracting  the  attention  of  philosophical  Schools, 
and  exciting  the  hostility  even  of  that  School  which 
professed  philosophic  indifference,  was  the  work  of 
OriGEN,  in  eight  books,  against  Celsus,  an  Epicurean 
and  a  friend  of  the  sceptical  scoffer  Lucian,  who 
addressed  to  him  one  of  his  works,  his  life  of  the 
magician  Alexander  of  Abonoteichus. 

The  work  of  Celsus  was  entitled  X6709  aX?;^r/9,  the 
tnce  doctrine.  In  this  work,  although  it  has  an  Epi- 
curean groundwork,  yet  he  not  only  adopts  Jewish 
objections  against  Christianity,  but  sometimes  per- 
sonates the  Platonist,  acknowledging  the  supreme 
Absolute  Essence  to  which  all  higher  intelligences 
should  aspire  ;  and  beneath  Him  who  reposes  in 
being,  a  secondary  Essence,  who  reveals  Himself 
in  becoming.  The  World  is  the  offspring  of  the 
Supreme  God  ;  the  celestial  luminaries  are  divine 
Essences,   animated    by    higher   intelligences ;    the 


ARGUMENT  FROM  PROPHECIES,  MIRACLES      115 
AND  RESULTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

national  deities  are  lords  of  different  parts  of  the  world, 

to   whom  homage    is   due.     Opposed   to    the  Divine 

Essence  is  Matter,  the  source  of  Evil,  existing  by  fatal 

necessity,  and  from  it  come  forth  Evil  Spirits. 

Origen's  work  was  written  in  his  old  age,  about 
A.D.  249,  not  long  before  his  death,  which  took  place 
A.D.  251,  in  his  seventieth  year. 

It  has  a  special  interest  and  value,  not  only  as  a 
vindication  of  Christianity,  but  as  containing  a  state- 
ment of  Origen's  mature  and  deliberate  opinions  on 
some  important  doctrines  of  the  faith,  and  as  being  in 
a  sounder  condition  as  to  the  text  than  almost  any 
other  of  his  works,  and  particularly  than  that  work — 
nvepX  dpx^ov,  now  in  a  very  imperfect  state, — which  has 
exposed  him  to  the  charge  of  heterodoxy. 

It  is  addressed  to  his  friend  and  patron  Ambrosius, 
who  had  requested  him  to  answer  the  work  of  Celsus  ; 
of  which  only  portions  how  exist,  quoted  by  Origen, 
and  in  which,  as  we  have  said,  Celsus  enlists  argu- 
ments drawn  from  Judaism,  which  he  despised,  and 
presses  them  into  the  service  of  heathen  philosophy, 
in  opposition  to  Christianity  (see  p.  22,  ed.  Spencer). 

Origen  grounds  his  argument  for  Christianity  on 
the  ancient  Hebrew  prophecies^  which  foretold  the 
Incarnation,  Birth  from  a  Virgin,  acts,  sufferings,  and 
glorious  Second  Coming  of  Christ  (p.  83)  ;  and  on 
Christ's  miraculous  and  merciful  acts ;  and  on  the 
practical  y>7/zVj-  of  Christianity  as  seen  in  the  lives  of 
Christians,  and  in  their  stifferings  for  the  faith. 

In  these  respects  he  shows  that  Christianity  is  a 
reasonable  religion  :  at  the  same  time  he  does  not 
pretend  to  say  that  every  Christian,  especially  in 
humble  life,  is,  or  can  be  intended  to  be,  competent 
to  refute  all  sceptical  objections  to  his  religion  ;  but 

I  2 


116  ORIGEN  ON  FAITH ;  AND  PHILOSOPHY. 

still  he  has  quite  enough  to  induce  him  to  believe  ; 
and  faith  is  what,  after  all,  is  mainly  required  of 
him. 

At  the  same  time  Origen  repudiates  the  allegation 
of  his  adversary  Celsus,  that  what  Christian  teachers 
demand  of  their  hearers  is  only  blind  faith.  No,  says 
Origen  (p.  241),  this  is  what  is  done  by  some  others, 
as  jugglers  and  mountebanks,  exhibiting  their  leger- 
demain in  the  streets,  but  not  daring  to  face  wise  men, 
but  only  where  they  espy  a  group  of  children  and 
slaves,  and  a  mob  of  silly  folk,  there  they  intrude 
themselves  and  display  their  feats. 

But  what  (he  asks)  do  we  do  like  this  1  What  do 
we  do  like  many  of  your  heathen  philosophers  }  They 
are  not  scrupulous  about  their  scholars  ;  any  one  who 
lists  may  come  and  enrol  himself  a  votary  ;  but  we, 
as  far  as  we  can,  examine  those  who  come  to  us,  and 
we  make  them  rehearse  to  us  their  lesson,  before  we 
admit  them  to  our  communion.  We  have  two  classes  ; 
one,  lately  admitted  but  not  yet  baptized  ;  the  other, 
such  as  have  made  a  public  profession,  declaring  that 
they  will  live  and  believe  as  Christians  (pp.  142,  143). 

Celsus  is  also  shown  to  be  inconsistent  with  himself. 
In  one  place  he  says  that  Christians  forbid  inquiry. 
In  another  he  points  to  the  variety  of  Christian 
heresies  — the  fruits  of  restless  inquiry — as  an  argu- 
ment against  Christianity. 

Again,  Origen  says  (p.  11),  Celsus  alleges  that  we 
say  this  world's  wisdom  is  evil,  and  folly  is  good  ;  but 
he  calumniates  us,  and  he  traduces  St.  Paul,  who  says, 
"  If  any  man  among  you  seemeth  to  be  wise  in  this 
world,  let  him  become  a  fool,  that  he  may  be  wise  " 
(i  Cor.  iii.  18).  But  St.  Paul  does  not  say  that  wisdom 
is  folly,  but   that  this  world's  wisdom  is  foolishness. 


ON  CHRIST'S  MIRACLES.  117 

Orlgen  asserts  the  need  and  use  of  true  wisdom  and 
learning  (pp.  140,  141),  and  says  that  false  knowledge 
is  ignorance  (p.  155).  Celsus  alleges  that  we  teach 
men  not  to  examine,  but  to  believe.  But  what  is 
more  rational  than  to  believe  in  God  ?  And  we  have 
good  grounds  for  our  faith,  much  better  grounds 
than  your  philosophers  have  for  their  opinions,  which 
they  require  men  to  receive. 

The  Miracles  of  mercy  wrought  by  Christ  entitle 
Him  to  be  heard  as  a  Teacher  sent  from  God,  and 
His  Doctrines  ought  to  be  believed  for  His  Works' 
sake.  He  observes  that  the  existence  of  a  variety  of 
schisms  and  heresies  among  Christians  is  not  an 
argument  against  the  truth  of  Christianity,  any  more 
than  the  existence  of  a  variety  of  different  philo- 
sophical and  medical  schools  is  an  argument  against 
Philosophy  and  Medicine  (p.  118).  He  asserts  the 
Antiquity  and  Authority  of  the  Hebrew  Prophecies 
which  testified  of  Christ '  (pp.  13,  25,  39,  62)  ;  he  con- 
trasts them  with  heathen  Oracles  (pp.  6,  338),  and 
observes  that  since  the  Coming  of  Christ  the  Jews 
have  had  no  more  prophecies,  nor  since  they  have 
rejected  Christ  have  they  had  any  mark  of  God's 
favour  and  grace,  such  as  are  vouchsafed  by  Him 
to  Christians  (p.  183). 

Celsus  owns  that  Christ  worked  miracles,  but  he 
imputes  them  to  Magic  (pp.  7,  34,  55,  92,  93),  which 
Christ  (he  says)  had  learnt  in  Egypt.  Origen 
acknowledges  that  miracles,  as  such,  are  not  a  suffi- 
cient proof  of  divine  Revelation  (p.  89),  but  he  shows 
the   difference   between    Christ's    Miracles    and    the 

9  See  the  Abbd  Fleury's  analysis  of  this  work.  Hist.  Eccles.  ii. 
pp.  257—268,  to  which  I  am  much  indebted  j  and  Neander,  Church 
Hist.  i.  pp.  221—231. 


118         ON  EVIL— PHYSICAL    AND  MORAL;   AND 
ON  DIVINE  GRACE. 

supposed  Wonders  wrought  by  Magicians,  as  to  the 

manner  of  working,  and  their  permanent  moral  effects 

on  human  society  (pp.  54,  61,  144,  146). 

In  opposition  to  the  allegations  of  Celsus  that  evil 
must  always  exist,  by  a  fatal  necessity  inherent  in 
vki]  or  matter  (iv.  62),  and  that  no  one  can  hope  to 
change  moral  evil  in  man  to  good  either  by  punish- 
ment or  mercy  (iii.  65) ;  and  that  it  is  degrading  to 
the  Deity  to  suppose  that  it  cares  for  single  souls,  as 
distinct  from  the  Universe  as  a  whole  (iv.  81,  99); 
he  shows  that  Christianity  has  a  divine  transforming 
power,  by  the  working  of  the  Spirit  of  love,  and  that 
Christ  cares  for  every  single  soul.  Christ  came  and 
died  to  redeem  every  one  from  the  guilt  and  power 
of  sin. 

Origen  affirms  that  all  men  are  sinners,  and  that 
all  men  may  be  made  holy  by  ^God's  grace  ;  and 
wherever  Christianity  in  its  genuine  purity  has  been 
received,  there  the  World   has  been  reformed  by  it 

(pp.  21,68). 

He  contrasts  the  character  and  acts  of  Christian 
churches  with  popular  and  pagan  legislative  as- 
semblies, in  great  cities  such  as  Athens,  Corinth,  and 
Alexandria  (p.  128).  How  different  is  the  love,  and 
peace,  and  holiness  of  the  former,  from  the  strifes, 
turbulence,  and  viciousness  of  the  latter  !  He  shows 
the  beauty  of  true  Christian  humility,  which  Celsus 
despised  as  a  mean  and  degrading  thing,  and  he 
declares  at  the  same  time  the  dignity  of  every  true 
Christian,  who  is  united  to  God  in  Christ  (vi.  15). 

He  refers  to  the  good  effects  of  Church  discipline 
in  maintaining  the  virtuous  character  of  her  members 
(p.  285).  He  proves  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  History 
(pp.  125,  138),  and  states  the  arguments  for  the  reahty 


EVIDENCES  FOR  CHRISTIANITY.  119 

of  Christ's  Resurrection  (p.  lOO),  due  to  His  own 
Divine  Power  (p.  130),  and  shows  that  it  is  impossible 
that  His  disciples  should  have  been  willing  to  do  and 
suffer  what  they  did  for  Christianity,  unless  they  had 
been  firmly  convinced  on  sufficient  grounds  that  it  was 
true  ;  and  that  being,  as  they  were,  illiterate  men  with- 
out any  earthly  support,  and  chosen  on  that  account 
by  Christ  (p.  135),  and  preaching  a  religion  which  ran 
counter  to  all  other  religions,  and  claimed  a  right  to 
supplant  and  supersede  them  all,  and  which  was 
opposed  to  all  the  received  opinions,  usages,  and 
worldly  interests  of  the  most  powerful  and  intellectual 
classes  of  society,  and  to  the  most  energetic  and 
violent  passions  of  human  nature,  and  which  was 
resisted  and  persecuted  by  all  the  might  of  Satan 
himself  wielding  the  power  of  the  Roman  Empire 
against  it,  and  trying  to  crush  it  (p.  183),  they  could 
never  have  surmounted  the  difficulties,  and  achieved 
the  conquests  they  did,  and  that  the  Church  could 
never  have  grown  by  suffering,  and  have  prospered  by 
persecution,  unless  the  Gospel  had  been  grounded  on 
truth,  and  assisted  by  grace  from  heaven  (pp.  22,  48, 
81,  185,265,  408). 

If  Christianity  were  not  true,  it  would  never  have 
been  preached  and  propagated  by  such  persons  as 
were  its  first  teachers  ;  and  if  it  had  been  preached 
by  them,  it  would  soon  have  been  extinguished  by  the 
violent  persecutions  which  it  had  to  endure  (p.  6). 

He  speaks  of  the  missionary  zeal  of  Christians 
stimulating  them  to  go  forth  and  preach  the  Gospel 
in  foreign  lands  without  reward  ;  and  he  appeals  to 
the  success  which  had  crowned  their  efforts  in  that 
holy  cause  (p.  142). 

He  affirms  that  Christianity  even  in  his  own  day 


120  THE  GODHEAD  OF  CHRIST. 

was  attested  by  miraculous  cures,  and  by  exorcisms  of 
evil  spirits  (pp.  5,  20,  34,  133}. 

He  answers  the  objections  of  Celsus  concerning  the 
difficulties  of  faith  in  Divine  Providence  ;  and  shows 
in  a  noble  passage  that  all  good  things  are  difficult, 
and  that  Faith,  being  one  of  the  best,  must  be  attended 
with  difficulty  (pp.  214,  215,  217).  God  does  not 
cause  evil  ;  but,  by  His  help,  evil  may  be  overcome  by 
us  with  good,  and  is  ministerial  to  our  good. 

The  objections  of  Celsus  evidently  imply  that  Christ 
was  acknowledged  by  Christians  to  be  God  (pp.  46, 
54,  61).  Origen  avows  the  truth  of  his  adversary's 
assertion,  and  shows  from  the  Gospels  that  Christ 
claimed  to  be  God,  as  well  as  Man  (pp.  51,  54,  64, 
128,  170,  322).  Origen  says  that  prayers  are  to  be 
offered  to  Christ  (p.  395).  We  must  pray  to  the 
Almighty  God  alone  and  to  the  Only-begotten  Son, 
the  First-born  of  every  creature,  the  Word  of  God,  and 
we  must  beseech  Him  that,  as  our  High  Priest,  He 
would  offer  our  prayers  to  His  Father  and  ours,  to  His 
God  and  our  God  ;  and  Hymns  are  to  be  addressed 
to  Christ  (p.  422),  Who  is  Lord  of  all  (389). 

He  speaks  of  the  Eucharist  as  Bread  offered  to  God 
the  Creator  and  Giver  of  all  benefits  to  our  souls  and 
bodies  (p.  416). 

Celsus  charged  the  Christians  with  inconsistency  in 
that,  while  they  denounced  polytheism,  they  them- 
selves worshipped  two  Gods,  the  Supreme  God,  and 
Jesus  Christ.  Origen  quotes  our  Lord's  assertion 
that  "  I  and  the  Father  are  One '"'  (one  substance, 
John  X.  30),  and  *' the  Father  is  in  Me  and  I  in  Him" 
(John  xiv.  10,  11),  while  he  guards  against  the  notion 
that  the  Father  and  the  Son  are  one  Person,  He 
says,  We  adore  One  God,  the  Father  and  the  Son, 


ORIGEN'S  THEOLOGY.  121 

(PP-  303,  322,  325,  327,  385,  388).  He  asserts  also 
the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (p.  325;  337,  338). 

This  may  be  said  to  be  Origen's  final  testimony  on 
the  Unity  of  the  Godhead,  and  the  Plurality  of  Per- 
sons in  that  Divine  Unity,  and  on  the  Godhead  of  the 
Son  ;^  and  he  concludes  with  saying  that  the  spiritual 
Rulers  of  the  Christian  Church  are  under  a  divine 
constraint  to  administer  the  affairs  of  those  Churches 
well,  in  obedience  to  their  Sovereign  Lord  and  King, 
Whom  we  believe  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  God  the 
Word.  In  governing  their  Churches  they  conform 
themselves  to  the  Law  of  God,  and  they  also  pay 
respect  to  the  laws  of  their  country  ;  and  they  devote 
themselves  entirely  to  the  work  of  bettering  the 
spiritual  condition  of  those  committed  to  their  charge, 
and  of  evangelizing  the  Gentiles,  in  order  that  they 
may  draw  them  to  the  true  faith  and  virtuous  living, 
so  that  all,  by  knowing  and  serving  God,  may  become 
one  with  God,  the  Lord  of  all,  by  means  of  His  Son, 
Who  is  God,  and  the  Word  and  Wisdom,  and  Truth 
and  Righteousness,  and  Who  unites  men  to  God  in 
Himself. 

Also  it  ought  to  be  observed — (as  Origen's  teach- 
ing on  that  point  has  been  regarded  as  heretical)  that 
in  this  his  last  work  (p.  410,  412)  he  distinctly  asserts 
that  future  punishments  as  well  as  future  rezvards,  are 
everlasting :  and  he  declares  the  force  of  this  doctrine 
to  produce  holiness  of  life. 

1  Cp.  Bishop  Bull,  Defens.  Fid.  Nic.  sect.  2,  c.  9,  §  22. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Persecution  under  Trajan — St.  Ignatius,  Bishop  of 
A  ntiocJi  arid  Martyr — His  Epistles. 

Pltny  the  Younger,  one  of  the  most  enlightened  of 
heathens,  was  Governor  of  Pontus  and  Bithynia  in 
A.D.  104,  under  one  of  the  best  of  Emperors,  Trajan. 

Pliny  having  been  encouraged  by  Trajan  to  resort 
to  him  for  advice  in  all  matters  concerning  the 
administration  of  his  Province,  consulted  him  as  to 
the  course  he  should  pursue  with  regard  to  the  Chris- 
tians.^ 

He  tells  the  Emperor  (who  was  then  engaged  in  his 
second  Dacian  war)  that  when  any  of  the  Christians 
were  brought  before  him  as  such,  he  interrogated  them 
whether  they  were  Christians.  If  they  acknowledged 
that  they  were,  he  repeated  the  demand  with  a  threat 
of  capital  punishment,  if  they  persisted  in  the  avowal  ; 
and  he  put  to  death  those  who  pertinaciously  ad- 
hered to  it.  He  acted  thus  on  the  ground  that  such 
obstinacy  rendered  them  guilty,  whatever  the  charac- 
ter of  Christianity  might  be.  The  laws  of  Nero^  still 
in  force,  made  it  a  capital  offence  to  be  a  Christian. 

The  large  number  of  persons  who  were  brought 
before  Pliny  on  that  charge,  caused  him  much  em- 
barrassment.    He  tested  them  by  requiring  them  to 

1  Epist.  X.  97.     Tertullian,  Apol.  c.  2. 


PLINY'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.        123 

offer  incense  or  libations  of  wine  to  the  statue  of  the 
Emperor,  in  the  presence  of  images  of  the  gods,  and 
to  anathematize  Christ.  This,  he  adds,  no  one  who 
was  really  a  Christian  could  ever  be  prevailed  upon 
to  do.  Some  renounced  their  profession  ;  others  said 
that  they  had  been  Christians  some  few  years  ago,  or 
as  many  as  twenty  years  since,  but  that  they  had 
ceased  so  to  be  ;  and  these  complied  with  his  require- 
ments. But  they  also  said  that  the  amount  of  their 
crime, — if  crime  it  were, — consisted  in  this,  that  on  a 
stated  day^  they  were  wont  to  meet  together  before 
sunrise  to  sing  hymns  to  Christ  as  God  ;  and  to  bind 
themselves  by  solemn  pledges  not  to  commit  theft  or 
adultery ;  to  speak  the  truth  ;  and  never  to  embezzle 
any  deposit  entrusted  to  them :  and  that  after- 
wards they  partook  of  a  repast  in  which  there  was 
nothing  that  was  blamable. 

Being  desirous  of  further  information,  Pliny  arrested 
two  Christian  females,  called  ;;22;22>^r<^ (or  deaconesses), 
and  put  them  to  the  torture  ;  but  he  could  extort 
nothing  out  of  them  but  that  their  superstition  was 
as  ridiculous  as  their  attachment  to  it  was  extra- 
ordinary. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  he  thinks  it  his  duty  to 
report  to  the  Emperor,  and  to  ask  for  his  advice  ;  and 
the  more  so,  he  adds,  "  on  account  of  the  vast  multi- 
tude of  persons  concerned,  of  every  age,  condition, 
and  sex,  and  inasmuch  as  the  poison  of  this  supersti- 
tion has  diffused  itself,  not  only  in  the  cities,  but  in 
the  villages  and  in  all  the  country.^  However,"  he 
concludes,  "  the  evil  is   not   incurable,  and,  since  the 

2  The  Lord's  day.     See  above  on  Justin  Martvr,  pp.  64,  65. 
2  Observe  the  resemblance  of  Plmy's  language  on  this  subject  to  that 
of  TertuUian,  above,  pp.  94,  95. 


124        TRAJAN'S  RESCRIPT— BITHYNIA—NIC^A. 

time  that  he  had  adopted  measures  for  its  repression, 
the  temples,  which  had  been  almost  deserted,  had 
begun  again  to  be  frequented,  and  victims  were  again 
commonly  bought  for  sacrifice,  which  very  few  persons 
had  purchased  before." 

The  Emperor's  rescript  was  in  the  following  terms 
(Plin.  Epist.  X.  98): — "  No  search  is  to  be  made  for 
Christians.  No  anonymous  accusations  are  to  be  re- 
ceived against  them.  If  they  are  delated,  they  must 
be  punished,  unless  they  disprove  the  charge  by 
sacrificing  to  the  gods." 

This  episode  on  the  Persecution  in  Bithynia  affords 
a  glimpse  of  what  was  taking  place  in  other  parts  of 
the  Empire.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  in  a  little 
more  than  200  years  afterwards,  another  Roman 
Emperor,  Constantine,  summoned  more  than  300 
Christian  Bishops  to  Nicaea,  in  the  same  Province, 
Bithynia,  to  that  Council  in  which  the  Doctrine  of 
Christ's  Eternal  Godhead  was  proclaimed  to  the  world 
in  the  Nicene  Creed,  which  has  now  been  received 
for  1500  years.  How  astonished  would  Trajan  and 
Pliny  have  been,  if  they  could  have  foreseen  this ! 
Those  holy  men  and  women  who  met  before  daybreak 
to  sing  praises  to  Christ  as  God,  and  to  partake  of  the 
Holy  Communion,  probably  were  comforted  and 
cheered  by  visions  of  the  future  triumph  of  the  Faith 
for  which  they  were  glad  to  die. 

Tertullian  (Apol.  c.  2),  commenting  on  these  facts, 
writes  thus  :  "  Plinius  Secundus,  when  he  was  Gover- 
nor of  a  Province,  having  condemned  some  Christians 
to  death,  and  driven  others  from  their  profession, 
being  still  alarmed  by  their  multitude,  consulted 
Trajan,  who  was  then  Emperor,  what  he  should  do, 
stating  that,  besides  their  obstinacy  in  not  sacrificing 


TERTULLIAN'S  COMMENTS  ON  TRAJAN'S       125 
RESCRIPT 

to  the  gods,  he  had  discovered  nothing  concerning 
their  mysteries,  except  that  they  met  in  assemblies 
before  daybreak  to  sing  to  Christ  as  God,  and  to  con- 
firm one  another  in  their  discipHne,  in  which  they 
proscribed  murder,  adultery,  fraud,  breach  of  trust, 
and  other  crimes.  To  which  Trajan  replied  that  no 
search  was  to  be  made  for  Christians,  but  when  they 
were  arraigned  they  must  be  punished."  "  O  sentence," 
(exclaims  Tertullian,)  ''  inevitably  confounded  by  it- 
self! He  forbids  them  to  be  searched  for,  as  innocent ; 
yet  he  commands  them  to  be  punished,  as  guilty  !  he 
spares,  and  yet  rages  ;  he  conceals,  and  yet  punishes  ! 
If  you  condemn  them,  why  do  you  not  search  for 
them  .^  If  you  do  not  search  for  them,  why  do  you 
not  acquit  them  .?  Against  traitors  every  man  is  a 
soldier  ;  and  even  their  accomplices  are  hunted  out. 
A  Christian  only  is  not  to  be  sought  for,  and  yet,  if 
found,  he  may  be  arraigned.  You  condemn  him  when 
impeached,  whom  you  order  not  to  be  inquired  for  ;  it 
seems,  therefore,  that  he  deserves  punishment,  not 
because  he  is  guilty,  but  because,  when  he  ought  not 
to  have  been  searched  for,  he  has  been  found  out. 
Other  criminals  you  torture  in  order  that  they  may 
confess  their  crimes  ;  but  Christians  are  tortured  by 
you  in  order  that  they  may  deny  that  they  are  Chris- 
tians. A  man  exclaims  that  he  is  a  Christian,  and  he 
speaks  the  truth  ;  but  you  desire  to  hear  from  him 
what  is  false :  you,  who  in  all  other  cases  sit  in 
judgment  on  malefactors  in  order  to  extort  the  truth, 
in  our  case  alone  endeavour  by  torture  to  elaborate 
a  lie." 

These  words  of  Tertullian  were  written  a  century 
after  Trajan's  rescript  and  they  seem  to  show  that 
his  policy  was  confirmed  by  succeeding  Emperors. 


126  -5-.   SYiMEON—S.    IGNATIUS,    BISHOP   OF 

ANTIOCH. 

But  those  animadversions  may  help  us  to  under- 
stand certain  events  in  the  history  of  the  times  which 
otherwise  might  be  difficult  to  account  for. 

In  the  persecution  under  Trajan,  Symeon  (who  had 
succeeded  St.  James,  "  the  Lord's  brother,"  in  the 
Bishopric  of  Jerusalem,  A.D.  62)  was  martyred  in 
A.D.  107,  at  the  age  of  120  years  (Euseb.  iii.  11, 
32  ;  iv.  22),  being  accused  by  Cerinthian  and  Nico- 
laitan  heretics. 

After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  Christians 
(who  had  quitted  it  before  the  siege,  being  warned  of 
its  coming  doom  by  our  Lord's  prophecy)  returned  to 
the  city  ;  and  the  Christian  church  there  was  governed 
by  Bishops  of  Jewish  extraction  till  the  demolition  of 
the  city  by  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  and  the  erection  of 
a  new  city,  called  from  his  own  name,  in  its  place. 

The  Martyrdom  in  the  reign  of  Trajan  which 
has  deservedly  obtained  the  greatest  celebrity,  is  that 
of  S.  Ignatius,  a  scholar  of  St.  John,  a  friend  of  Poly- 
carp,  and  Bishop  of  the  Syrian  Antioch,  which  then 
contained  a  population  of  200,000  souls.  In  no 
Martyrdom,  after  those  of  the  Apostles,  have  the 
divine  power  and  grace,  overruling  evil  for  good,  and 
enabling  the  servants  of  God  to  triumph  over  their 
enemies,  and  to  promote  His  Glory  and  that  of  the 
Church,  been  more  conspicuous. 

The  date  of  this  Martyrdom  is  doubtful.  On  the 
whole  it  seems  most  probable  that  it  was  at  the  close 
of  A.D.  115.' 

In  the  year  1 14  Trajan's  Column  had  been  dedicated 
at  Rome  as  a  memorial  of  his  Dacian  campaign  and 
conquests  ;  and  he  received  from  the  Senate  the  title 

^  See  Clinton,  Fasti  Rom.  A.D.  115  ,  Bp.  Pearson  in  Bp.  Jacobson's 
Edition  of  Patres  Apostolici,  pp.  564 — 569;  Minor  Works,  ii.  304. 


TRAJAN  A  T  ANTIOCH— EARTHQUAKE.  127 

of  '' Optimtis  f'  and  the  Emperor  set  forth  for  the 
East,  and  proceeded  in  the  autumn  through  Athens 
and  Seleucia  to  Antioch,  where  he  wintered. 

In  the  early  spring  of  A.D.  115,  while  he  was  there, 
preparing  for  his  expedition  to  Parthia,^  a  great 
earthquake  did  much  damage  to  the  city  and  other 
places  in  Syria,  and  imperilled  the  life  of  the  Emperor. 
The  consul  Pedo  perished  in  it.  This  catastrophe  may 
have  exasperated  the  people  against  the  Christians,  to 
whom  they  imputed  such  calamities  as  these.^ 

Certain  it  is,  that  at  Antioch,  where  the  disciples 
were  first  called  Christians  (Acts  xi.  26),  there  had 
been  a  long  and  violent  struggle  between  the  powers 
of  darkness  and  the  Christian  Church.  The  priests 
and  votaries  of  the  heathen  temples, — and  it  contained 
some  of  great  celebrity, — and  all  who  were  connected 
with  the  vast  system  of  paganism,  would  gladly  avail 
themselves  of  the  presence  of  the  Emperor  in  their 
city,  to  endeavour  to  exterminate  Christianity.  They 
would  represent  to  him  that  his  success  against  the 
Parthians  depended  on  his  zeal  for  the  gods  of  his 
country,  and  for  that  national  ritual,  of  which  he 
was  officially  the  Chief  Pontiff.  They  would  remind 
him  of  his  own  recent  edict,  in  reply  to  the  Governor 
of  Bithynia,  Pliny,  that  Christians,  when  delated  and 
convicted,  ought  to  be  condemned  to  capital  punish- 
ment. They  thought  that  if  Ignatius,  the  Bishop  of 
the  Church,  was  condemned  to  death,  the  Church 
itself  would  be  paralyzed. 

Ignatius  was  brought  before  the  Emperor,"  and 
was  interrogated  by  him.  "Who  is  this  man, 
possessed  by  an  evil  spirit,  that  dares  to  violate   our 

5  Dio  Cass.  Ixviii,  24.     Clinton,  Fasti  Romani  at  A.D.  115. 
"  See  above,  p.  loi.  '  Martyr.  Ignat.  c.  2. 


128         IGNA  TIUS  ARRAIGNED  BEFORE  TRAJAN. 

commands,  and  to  persuade  others  to  do  so?" 
Ignatius  replied,  "  No  one  calls  Theophorus^  an  evil 
spirit.  Evil  spirits  have  departed  far  away  from 
God's  servants.  Having  Christ  as  my  heavenly  King 
I  put  to  flight  their  attacks."  "  And  who  is  Theo- 
phorus  ? "  "  One  who  has  Christ  in  his  bosom." 
"  And  do  not  we  seem  to  you  to  have  gods  in  our 
minds,  we  who  use  them  as  our  allies  against  our 
enemies  ? "  "  You  are  wrong  in  calling  the  deities  of 
the  heathen  by  that  name.  There  is  only  one  God, 
Who  has  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  the  sea 
and  all  things  therein,  and  one  Christ  Jesus,  the  Only- 
begotten,  Whose  kingdom  may  I  enjoy  !  "  "  Do  you 
mean  him  who  was  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate  } " 
"  I  mean  Him  Who  has  crucified  my  sin,  and  the 
author  of  it,  and  has  condemned  all  demoniacal  error 
and  malice  to  be  trodden  under  foot  by  those  who 
bear  Him  in  their  hearts."  ''  Dost  thou  therefore  bear 
the  Crucified  in  thyself.?  "  "Yes  ;  for  it  is  written,  I 
will  dwell  in  them,  and  will  walk  among  them." 

Trajan  then  gave  sentence:  "We  command  that 
Ignatius,  who  says  that  he  carries  about  with  him 
the  Crucified,  be  carried  as  a  prisoner  by  soldiers  to 
great  Rome,  to  be  food  for  wild  beasts,  for  the  diver- 
sion of  the  people."  "  I  thank  Thee,  O  Lord,"  said 
the  holy  martyr  joyfully  with  a  loud  voice,  "  that  Thou 
hast  thought  me  worthy  to  be  honoured  with  perfect 
love  to  Thee  ;  and  to  unite  me  in  iron  chains  with  Thy 
Apostle  St.  Paul."  He  then  bound  the  chains  '■'  with 
joy  around  himself,  having  first  prayed  for  the  Church, 
and  commended  it  with  tears  to  the  Lord. 

"  Ignatius  adopted  this  name  Theophorus,  signifying  one  vho  bears  God 
in  him. 

0  Which  he  calls  his  "spiritual  pearls,"  ad  Ephes.  c.  Ii. 


HIS  JOURNEY  FROM  ANTIOCH  TO  SMYRNA.     129 

Let  us  pause  here  and  consider. 

The  enemies  of  Christianity  hailed  Trajan's  presence 
at  Antioch  as  an  opportunity  for  crushing-  it. 
S.  Chrysostom  observes  ^  that  the  Evil  One  directed 
his  special  attacks  against  the  Bishops  of  the  Church, 
in  order  that  by  the  death  of  the  Shepherd  the  sheep 
might  be  scattered  ;  but  that  he  sometimes  contrived 
to  separate  them  from  their  flock,  to  be  martyred 
elsewhere,  in  order  that  they  might  be  deprived  of  the 
sympathy  of  their  people,  and  be  exhausted  by  jour- 
neys to  a  distance,  and  that  so  their  faith  might  fail ; 
and  that  he  employed  this  artifice  against  Ignatius,  the 
Bishop  of  Antioch,  for  whose  memory  S.  Chrysostom 
— one  of  the  greatest  teachers  and  brightest  lights  of 
the  Church  of  Antioch  in  the  fourth  century — cherished 
a  special  regard. 

But  these  devices  of  the  Evil  One  were  controlled 
by  God's  providence  for  good,  in  the  person  of  Igna- 
tius, as  they  had  been  in  that  of  St.  Paul." 

S.Ignatius  was  conveyed  from  Antioch  to  Seleucia; 
where  he  embarked  for  the  voyage  along  the  coast  of 
Asia,  being  in  the  custody  of  ten  soldiers,^  whose  harsh 
treatment  of  him  exercised  and  manifested  his  Chris- 
tian patience  and  charity.  He  arrived,  in  the  month 
of  August,  at  Smyrna,  where  S.  Polycarp  was  Bishop, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  also  a  disciple  of  St.  John, 
but  was  much  younger  than  Ignatius  ;  and,  many 
years  afterwards,  was  a  martyr  at  Smyrna.  This 
was  a  happy  event.  Polycarp  was  instrumental  in 
collecting  and  preserving  the  Epistles  written  at  this 
time  by  S.  Ignatius. 

The  news  of  his   arrival  at  Smyrna  spread  rapidly. 

^  Tom.  i.  Orat.  42.         2  gee  above,  p.  80.          3  Epist.  ad  Rom.  5. 

K 


130  EPISTLES  OF  S.  IGNA  TIUS  A  T  SMYRNA. 

He  was  visited  there  by  deputies  from  Ephesus,  in  the 
persons  of  its  Bishop  Onesimus,  and  of  Burrhus  the 
Deacon,  and  by  others  from  the  Church  of  Magnesia, 
represented  by  Damas,  its  Bishop,  Bassus  and  Apol- 
lonius,  its  Presbyters,  and  Sotion  the  Deacon  ;  from 
the  Church  of  Tralles  by  Polybius.  Here  then  we 
have  a  specimen  of  the  form  of  Church  Government 
existing  in  those  Churches  at  that  time. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Being  detained  at  Smyrna, 
Ignatius  wrote  Epistles,  still  extant,  to  each  of  those 
three  Churches.  At  Smyrna  he  also  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  Church  of  Rome,  dated  August  24,  which  he 
sent  by  the  hands  of  some  Christians  of  Ephesus. 
From  Smyrna  he  was  conveyed  to  Troas,  being 
attended  by  Burrhus,  the  Deacon  of  Ephesus.  At 
Troas  he  was  visited  by  the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  ; 
and  from  Troas  he  wrote  Epistles  to  the  Churches  of 
Philadelphia  and  Smyrna,  and  to  his  friend  Polycarp, 
Bishop  of  Smyrna.  These  three  Epistles  are  also 
still  preserved,  making  seven  in  all,  written  by  him  in 
his  voyage  from  Antioch  towards  Rome.  From  Troas 
he  was  conveyed  to  Neapolis,  in  Macedonia,  and 
thence  to  Philippi,  thus  following  in  the  steps  of 
St.  Paul  (Acts  xvi.  11,  12). 

The  Christians  at  Philippi  received  him  with  honour 
and  joy,  and  they  wrote  a  letter  to  Polycarp,  Bishop 
of  Smyrna,  in  which  they  desired  him  to  send  them 
copies  of  the  Epistles  of  S.  Ignatius  ;  a  request  with 
which  he  complied,  as  he  states  in  his  reply  to  them, 
still  preserved  (Polycarp.  ad  Philipp.  c.  13). 

From  Philippi  Ignatius  was  carried  through  Mace- 
donia and  Epirus,  by  the  Egnatian  Way,  to  Epidam- 
nus  or  Dyrrachium,  where  he  embarked  for  the 
coast  of  Italy,  and  touched  at  Puteoli,  near  Naples ; 


EPISTLES  OF  S.  IGNA  TIUS.  131 

thence  he  sailed  to  Portus  Romanus,^  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Tiber  about  fifteen  miles  from  Rome,  and 
was  thence  conveyed  to  Rome.  There  he  was 
martyred  at  the  festival  of  the  Saturnalia  in  the 
Colosseum  on  December  20th,  probably  A.D.  115. 

Let  us  review  these  incidents. 

The  ancient  Acts  of  his  Martyrdom  record  that  in 
this  progress  from  Antioch  to  Rome,  he  was  visited, 
in  various  populous  places,  by  Bishops,  Priests  and 
Deacons,  and  others,  resorting  to  him  for  spiritual 
communion  and  for  spiritual  graces  from  various 
Churches  and  Cities  of  Asia  (Martyr,  c.  3,  ed.  Jacobson, 

p.  585). 

In  this  respect  that  voyage  was  a  Christian  Mission 
to  the  Churches,  and  was  conducive  to  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel.  The  concourse  of  persons  flocking  to  see 
him  and  pay  him  honour,  and  to  derive  religious 
benefits  from  intercourse  with  him,  seem  to  have 
attracted  much  notice  even  among  the  heathen,  and 
to  have  been  made  the  subject  of  satirical  parody  from 
the  pen  of  the  scurrilous  Lucian." 

The  next  great  benefit  of  this  missionary  voyage 
was,  that  he  was  thus  enabled  and  encouraged  to  write 
those  Epistles^  which    are    of  inestimable  value   as 

*  May  I  refer  for  a  description  of  Portus  to  my  work  on  S.  Hippo- 
lytus,  Bishop  of  Portus,  p.  255,  2nd  ed. 

8  De  Morte  Peregrini,  3,  p.  336.  Peregrinus  in  his  way  to  his 
martyrdom  wrote  hortatory  philosophic  Epistles,  perhaps, —as  some 
suppose, — in  imitation  of  S.  Ignatius.     Tillemont,  ii.  p.  184. 

6  About  thirty  years  ago  and  more,  after  tracing  the  history  of  the 
Ignatian  controversy,  I  expressed  an  opinion  in  an  article  in  the  eighth 
Number  of  the  English  Review  for  1845,  PP-  309— 353»  on  Dr.  Cureton's 
Edition  of  the  Three  Syriac  Epistles,  ascribed  by  him  to  Ignatius,  and 
accepted  by  some  as  his  only  genuine  letters,  that  those  Syriac  Epistles 
would  be  found  to  be  only  Epitomes  of  three  of  the  Greek  Epistles  ;  and 
I  also  gave  utterance  to  a  belief  that  the  time  would  come,  when  the 

K  2 


132  EPISTLES  OF  S.  IGNA  TIUS. 

bearing  testimony  of  one  who  had  conversed  with  St. 
John,  and  held  the  office  of  Bishop  in  one  of  the 
greatest  cities  of  the  world,  and  who  wrote  with  the 
earnestness  of  a  dying  man  to  Christian  Churches  on 
momentous  questions  of  Christian  Doctrine  and  Dis- 
cipline, Church  Unity  and  Government,  Christian 
Sacraments  and  Ritual  ;  and  in  which  he  showed 
what  is  the  power  of  Christ's  indwelling  Presence,  and 
of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  infusing  the  graces 
of  faith,  hope,  and  joy  into  the  heart  of  man,  and 
enabling  him  to  triumph  over  death,  and  to  rejoice 
in  suffering  for  the  Cross. 

Let  us  therefore  listen  to  his  words. 

Taking  the  Epistles  in  order,  we  have  first  that  to 
the  Ephesians.  "  Ignatius,  who  is  also  Theophorus," 
such  are  its  opening  words.  It  therefore  begins  with 
a  profession  of  Christ's  Godhead.  "  Theophorus,"  the 
bearer  of  God^  is  one  who  has  Christ  in  his  breast 
(Martyr,  c.  2). 

In  chapter  4  he  describes  the  blessings  of  Unity. 
"Your  estimable  Priesthood,"  he  says,  "  is  harmoniously 
joined   with  the  Bishop,  as  strings  to    a  harp  ;    and 

Sevett  Greek  Epistles  would  be  generally  accepted  as  genuine.  That 
time  seems  to  have  arrived.  The  latest  German  Editor,  Theodore 
Zahn  (Lips.  1876),  thus  speaks,  p.  v.  "  Brevissima  ilia  Epistularum 
Ignatianarum  recensio,  tres  tantum  Epistolas  complectens,  quam  Guil. 
Cureto7i  e  versionis  Syriaccc  fragmentis  tanquam  genuinam  harum  Litte- 
rarum  formam  restituisse  non  soli  sibi  videbatur,  quasi  insomnium  sicave 
tandem  evannit.  Nam  postquam  Denzingeri,  Petermanni,  Uhlhorni, 
Merxii  laboribus  mea  accessit  quantulacunque  fuit  disquisitio,  plerique 
jam  consentiunt  Syrum  ilium  Curetonianum  ex  ampliore  versione 
septem  Epistolarum  quas  Eusebius  enumeraverat  excerpsisse  quae 
exhibet."  On  Dec.  16,  1875,  Bishop  Lightfoot  thus  via-ote  to  Dr.  Zahn  : 
"  I  ought  to  explain  that  since  I  wrote  the  article  (in  the  Contemporary 
Review)  on  Ignatius,  I  have  been  more  and  more  strongly  impressed 
with  the  unity  and  priority  of  the  Seven  Epistles,  as  representing  the 
genuine  Ignatius."     (Zahn.  Proleg.  p.  vi.) 


CHURCH  UNITY— EPISCOPACY.  133 

therefore  by  your  concord  and  unison  of  love  Christ 
is  chanted,  and  ye  all  become  a  choir,  so  that,  being 
attuned  together,  and  receiving  divine  melody  in  one- 
ness of  mind,  ye  may  sing  with  one  voice  through 
Christ  to  God"  (cp.  Phil.  i). 

In  like  manner  he  speaks  to  the  Magnesians  of  the 
blessings  of  Unity  of  Bishop,  Priests,   and  Deacons 
(c.  2   and   7)  ;    and   to  the   Church  of  Smyrna  (c.   8 
and    9),    "Avoid    divisions    as    the    origin    of    evil. 
All  of  you  follow  the  Bishop,  the  Presbytery,  and  the 
Deacons.     Let  no  one  do  anything  that  concerns  the 
Church  without   the  Bishop.     Where   the  Bishop  is, 
there  let  the  people  be.     It  is  not  lawful  to  baptize 
or  celebrate  the  Holy  Communion  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  Bishop.     He  that  honours  the  Bishop  is 
honoured  of  God  (c.  9)."     Ad  Magnes.  (c.  4),  "  It  is 
seemly  not  only  to  have  the  name  of  Christian,  but  to 
be  one.     Some  acknowledge  the  Bishop,  and  yet  in  all 
that  they  do,  they  act  without  him ;  such  persons  do  not 
seem  to  me  to  be  conscientious;"  (c.  6)  "I  exhort  you 
to  do  all  your  works  in  the  unanimity  of  God,  under 
the  presidency  of  the  Bishop,  as  God's  deputy,  and 
under  the  Presbyters  in  the  place  of  the  council  of  the 
Apostles,  and  the  Deacons  entrusted  with  the  ministry 
of  Christ.    Let  no  one  look  on  his  neighbour  according 
to  the  eye  of  the  flesh,  but  ever  love  one  another  in 
Jesus  Christ.     Let  nothing  be  able  to  separate  you  ; 
but  be  united  to  the  Bishop  and  Presbyters  as  a  fore- 
shadowing and  discipline  of  life  immortal."     And  ad 
Philad.  (c.  7),  "  Attend  to  the  Bishop,  to  the  Presbytery, 
to  the  Deacons.     I  speak  not  this  according  to  the  flesh, 
but  the  Spirit  preached  it  to  me,  saying.  Do  nothing 
without  the  Bishop.     Keep  your  body  as  a  temple  of 
God.  Love  unity.  Shun  divisions.  Be  followers  of  Jesus 


134  REASONS  FOR  HIS  ADVICE. 

Christ,  as  He  is  of  the  Father."  And  (ad  Trail,  c.  2), 
"  When  you  are  subject  to  the  Bishop  as  to  Christ  (i.  e. 
in  the  Lord),  ye  appear  to  me  to  be  living,  not  accord- 
ing to  men,  but  unto  Christ.  It  is  necessary  to  do 
nothing  without  the  Bishop,  but  to  be  subject  also  to 
the  Priests,  as  to  the  Apostles  of  Christ  our  hope  ;  and 
the  Deacons,  who  are  ministers  of  Christ's  mysteries, 
ought  to  be  pleasing  to  all,  for  they  are  not  ministers 
of  food  and  drink,  but  of  the  Church  of  God." 

It  may  at  first  sight  seem  strange  that  Ignatius  going 
to  martyrdom  should  lay  so  much  stress  on  this  point 
— unity  with  the  Bishop,  Priests,  and  Deacons — in  his 
farewell  letters  to  the  Churches.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  while  Persecution  was  raging  against 
the  Church  from  without,  the  Evil  One  was  stirring  up 
Heresies  within  her,  which  were  still  more  dangerous 
and  deadly,  as  will  be  evident  from  the  following 
extracts  ;  and  this  will  be  shown  from  other  sources  in 
a  following  chapter.  And  it  will  also  be  shown  that 
the  only  real  security  to  the  Church  in  such  times  as 
those  was  in  cleaving  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  inter- 
preted by  the  appointed  Spiritual  Guides  of  the 
Church;  and  to  the  primitive  deposit  of  faith  preserved 
in  the  Churches  by  them.  This  will  be  illustrated 
from  the  great  work  of  S.  Irenaeus  against  Here- 
sies. 

As  to  Unity  in  Prayer  and  Sacraments,  Ignatius 
says  (ad  Ephes.  c.  5),  "  Let  no  one  deceive  himself; 
whosoever  is  not  within  the  Sanctuary  lacks  the  bread 
of  God.  For  if  the  Prayer  of  a  single  person  has  such 
power,  how  much  more  the  Prayer  of  the  Bishop  and 
the  Church."  And  (ad  Trail,  c.  7)  "  He  who  is  within 
the  Sanctuary  is  clean  ;  he  that  does  anything  with- 
out the  Bishop,  the  Priesthood,  and  Deacons,  is  not 


CHRIST'S  GODHEAD— INCARNATION— THE       135 
HOLY  EUCHARIST 

pure  In  his  conscience."  And  (Ephes.  c.  20)  he  says 
he  will  write  again  more  fully,  if  the  Lord  will,  in  a 
second  short  treatise,  of  the  dispensation  (incarna- 
tion) leading  into  the  new  Man  Jesus  Christ,  in  His 
faith  and  love,  in  His  Passion  and  Resurrection  ; 
especially  if  the  Lord  reveals  anything  to  him  ; ''  and 
he  exhorts  them  thus  :  "  Be  ye  all  severally  and  collec- 
tively gathered  together  by  grace  in  one  faith  and  in 
Jesus  Christ,  Who  is  of  the  Seed  of  David  according 
to  the  flesh,  and  is  Son  of  Man  and  Son  of  God,  so  as 
to  hearken  to  your  Bishop  and  the  Presbytery  with 
an  undistracted  mind,  breaking  One  Bread,  which  is 
the  medicine  of  immortality,  and  the  antidote  against 
Death,  and  the  food  of  Life  through  Jesus  Christ  for 
evermore."^  And  (to  Philadelph.  c.  4),  "Take  heed 
to  resort  to  the  same  Eucharist.  There  is  one  flesh  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  one  cup  of  His  Blood  ;  one 
Bishop,  with  the  Presbytery  and  Deacons,  my  fellow- 
servants  ;  so  that  what  ye  do,  ye  may  do  it  according  to 
God's  will."  And  (to  Ephes  chap.  18.)  "  Our  God  Jesus 
Christ  was  conceived  of  Mary,  according  to  the  dis- 
pensation of  God,  by  the  Holy  Ghost :  He  was  born 
and  was  baptized,  in  order  that  by  His  Passion  He 
might  sanctify  water." 

On  the  necessity  of  holding  and  teaching  sound 
doctrine,  he  says  (ad  Ephes.  c.  15),  "  It  is  better  to  be 
silent  and  to  be  (i.  e.  not  merely  to  seem  to  be)  than  to 
talk,  and  not  to  be.  It  is  good  for  a  man  to  teach,  if 
he  does  what  he  teaches.  He  who  truly  has  the  word 
of  Jesus  can  hear  His  silence,  in  order  that  he  may  be 

7  See  Zahn's  note  here,  p,  25,  ed.  Lips.  1876. 

5  Observe  this  statement  concerning  the  Unity  of  True  Faith  in- 
separably linked  to  Unity  of  Apostolic  Church  Government, — a  truth 
proved  by  the  succeeding  history  of  the  Church. 


136  ON  HERESY— ON  THE  INCARNATION. 

perfect ;  in  order  that  he  may  act  by  means  of  what 
he  says,  and  be  known  by  what  he  does  not  say. 
Nothing  is  hid  from  the  Lord  ;  our  secret  things  are  in 
His  eyesight.  Let  us  therefore  do  all  things  as  those 
in  whom  He  dwells,  that  we  may  be  His  temples,  and 
that  He  maybe  our  God  in  us.  Be  not  deceived  ;  they 
who  corrupt  their  own  house  (i.  e.  their  bodies)  shall 
not  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  God.  If  those  persons 
are  dead,  who  do  such  things  according  to  the  flesh, 
how  much  more  he  who  corrupts  with  unsound  teach- 
ing that  doctrine  for  which  Christ  was  crucified.  Such 
a  person  being  polluted  will  go  into  unquenchable 
fire ;  and  he  likewise  who  hearkens  to  him  "  (c.  i6).^ 

A  solemn  warning  for  all  times  in  which  false  doc- 
trines and  heresies  are  rife. 

On  the  Godhead  and  Incarnation  of  the  Son,  he 
thus  speaks  (ad  Ephes.  c.  19):  "The  Prince  of  this 
world  was  ignorant  of  the  virginity  of  Mary  and  of 
her  Child-bearing,  and  of  the  death  of  the  Lord  : 
"  Three  Mysteries  of  shouting  "  (i.  e.  not  like  heathen 
mysteries,  such  as  the  Eleusinian  and  others,  which 
are  kept  secret ;  the  Christian  mysteries  are  shouted 
to  the  whole  world  by  Evangelical  preaching),  *' which 
were  wrought  in  the  silence  of  God.  And  how  was  He 
manifested  to  the  world.?"  He  then  speaks  of  the 
mystery  of  the  Incarnation  and  Birth  at  Bethlehem; 
and  of  the  Star  proclaiming  from  on  high  amid  a 
starry  chorus  the  mystery  to  the  Wise  Men.  By  this 
manifestation  all  sorcery  was  dissolved,  every  chain  of 
evil  was  broken,  ignorance  was  demolished_,  the  old 

^  "Whosoever,"  (says  Ignatius,  Frag,  ix.,)  "teaches  Avhat  is  contrary  to 
those  things  which  have  been  commanded  (by  God),  let  him  be  accounted 
by  thee  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing  and  a  destroyer  of  the  sheep,  although 
he  fasts,  and  practises  celibacy,  and  works  miracles." 


BLESSED  EFFECTS  OF  THE  INCARNATION.  137 

kingdom  (of  Satan)  was  destroyed.  God  being  made 
manifest  in  Man  for  the  newness  of  Life  Everlasting, 
that  which  was  perfected  by  God  received  its  begin- 
ning. Everything  (in  Satan's  realm)  was  shaken, 
because  the  dissolution  of  death  was  devised  by  God. 
And  (to  Ephes.  c.  7)  on  Christ's  two  Natures,  he 
says,  "  There  is  One  Physician,  fleshly  and  spiritual, 
born  and  unborn,  God  made  in  the  flesh,  true  Life  in 
death,  born  of  Mary  and  of  God  ;  passible,  and  then 
impassible."  And  (to  Tralles  c.  9),  "  Turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
any  one  who  speaks  to  you  without  Jesus  Christ,  of 
the  Seed  of  David,  of  Mary  ;  Who  was  truly  born,  did 
eat  and  drink,  truly  suff"ered  persecution  under  Pontius 
Pilate,  was  truly  crucified  and  died  in  the  sight  of 
earthly  things  and  heavenly,  and  of  things  under  the 
earth_,  Who  truly  arose  from  the  dead,  being  quickened 
by  the  Father,  Who  will  raise  us  also  who  believe  in 
Him,  according  to  His  likeness  in  Jesus  Christ,  with- 
out Whom  we  have  no  true  Life."  And  to  Smyrna 
he  says  (c.  3),  *'  I  know  and  believe  in  Him  existing 
in  the  flesh  after  His  Resurrection,  when  He  came  to 
Peter  and  those  who  were  with  him,  and  said,  '  Handle 
Me,  and  see  that  I  am  not  a  spirit  without  body  ' 
(Luke  xxiv.  39),  and  straightway  they  touched  Him 
and  believed,  being  convinced  by  His  flesh  and  spirit : 
wherefore  they  despised  death,  and  triumphed  over  it. 
And  after  His  Resurrection  He  ate  and  drank  with 
them,  having  really  flesh,  although  united  spiritually 
with  the  Father."  He  proceeds  to  state  the  practical 
effects  of  this  faith  in  our  Lord's  real  humanity  (by 
way  of  protest  against  the  Docetae,  who  said  that  our 
Lord's  body  was  only  an  ideal  phantom):  *'  I  warn  you 
against  those  who  deny  that  doctrine,  who  are  wild 
beasts  in  human  shape^  whom  you  ought  not  to  receive, 


138  HOPES  AND  JOYS  OF  MARTYRS, 

nor  even,  if  possible,  to  meet  in  the  way,  but  only  to 
pray  for  them  that  they  may  repent,  which  is  hard. 
But  Christ  can  do  it,  Who  is  our  true  Life.  For  if 
these  things  were  done  and  suffered  in  appearance  ^ 
only  by  our  Lord,  I  also  have  been  chained  only  in 
appearance.  Why  then  have  I  given  myself  up  to 
death,  to  fire,  to  the  sword,  to  wild  beasts  .?  Nay, 
but  being  near  to  the  sword,  I  am  near  to  God  ;  being 
in  the  grasp  of  wild  beasts,  I  am  in  the  hand  of  God. 
Only  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  do  I  endure 
all  things,  in  order  that  I  may  suffer  with  Him, 
Who,  by  becoming  Perfect  Man,  enabled  me  to  do 
so." 

He  teaches  clearly  the  true  character  of  the  Old 
Testament  as  bearing  witness  to  Christ,  and  to  be 
interpreted  by  the  New.  To  the  Magnesians  he  says 
(c.  8)5  "  If  we  Judaize,  we  imply  that  we  have  not 
received  grace.  The  holy  Prophets  lived  a  Christ- 
ward  life.  Wherefore  they  suffered  persecution,  being 
inspired  by  His  grace  ( I  Pet.  i.  ii),in  order  that 
unbelievers  might  be  fully  persuaded  that  there  is 
One  God,  Who  manifested  Himself  by  Jesus  Christ 
His  SoUj  Who  is  His  Word  Eternal,  not  coming  forth 
from  silence,^  Who  in  all  things  did  what  was  pleasing 
to  His  Father's  will."    And  again  (c.  10),  "  It  is  unrea- 

^  Cp.  the  prayer  of  S.  Irenaeus  for  heretics  at  the  close  of  his  third 
book. 

2  rb  Sofce?)/,  with  aUusion  to  the  AoKTjraf. 

2  If  we  adopt  the  reading  ^'' not  coming  forth,"  we  need  not  be. 
alarmed  by  the  allegation  of  some  critics  that  here  is  a  reference  to  the 
Valent'mian  heresy,  which  was  posterior  to  Ignatius,  and  that  therefore 
this  Epistle  is  not  genuine.  The  fact  is,  that  the  theory  of  the  pro- 
cession of  the  Word  from  Silence  -wa.s  prior  to  Valentinus,  and  as  old 
as  Simon  Magus,  contemporary  with  St.  Peter  ;  see  S.  Hippolyt. 
Refut.  Haer.  lib.  vi.  p.  173.  But  there  is  good  authority  for  expunging 
"  not ;"  and  so  Zahn,  p.  36. 


CHRIST  THE  DOOR  OF  THE  PATRIARCHS  AND    139 
PROPHETS. 

sonable  to  speak  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  yet  to  Judaize. 
Christianity  is  not  aproselyte  to  Judaism,  but  Judaism 
is  a  convert  to  Christianity,  so  that  every  tongue  may 
be  united  by  faith  in  God."  And  to  the  Philadel- 
phians  he  says  (c.  9),  "Good  are  the  Priests  of  the 
Church,  but  a  better  thing  is  the  High  Priest  Who 
has  the  charge  of  the  Holy  of  HoHes,  Who  alone  is 
entrusted  with  the  secret  things  of  God.  He  is  the 
Door  to  the  Father,  by  which  Abraham,  and  Isaac 
and  Jacob,  and  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  and  the 
Church,  all  these,  enter  into  the  Unity  of  God.  The 
Gospel  has  a  special  pre-eminence — the  Advent  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  His  Passion,  and  Ascension.  The 
beloved  Prophets  were  His  heralds,  but  the  Gospel  is 
the  perfection  of  incorruptibility." 

Such  is  an  abstract  of  the  teaching  of  S.  Ignatius, 
in  his  Epistles  to  these  Churches,  on  Christian  Doc- 
trine and  Discipline.  The  Epistle  of  the  holy  Martyr 
in  the  near  prospect  of  death  to  his  brother  Bishop, 
Polycarp  of  Smyrna,  by  many  years  his  junior, 
holds  the  same  place  in  hortatory  addresses,  as  the 
Pastoral  Epistles  of  the  holy  Apostle  St.  Paul  in 
foresight  of  martyrdom  to  the  two  youthful  Bishops, 
Timothy  and  Titus.  It  is  a  valuable  manual  in  this 
respect  for  Christian  Bishops  and  Pastors. 

Let  us  make  a  few  extracts  from  it. 

"I  beseech  thee,"  (he  says,)  "in  the  grace  by  which 
thou  art  clothed,  to  attend  to  thy  course  and  to  exhort 
all  men,  that  they  may  be  saved.  Justify  thy  place  (as 
Bishop)  with  all  diligence,  bodily  and  spiritual.  Take 
heed  to  unity,  than  which  nothing  is  more  precious. 
Bear  others,  as  the  Lord  bears  thee  ;  bear  with  them 
in   love,  as  thou    doest ;    attend   to   prayer   without 


140  S.  IGNA  TIUS  TO  S.   POL  YCARP. 

ceasing  ;  pray  for  more  understanding  than  thou  hast. 
Watch  with  a  sleepless  spirit ;  speak  to  every  one 
singly  with  the  help  of  God.  Bear  the  failings  of  all, 
as  a  perfect  athlete  ;  the  more  pain,  the  more  gain. 
If  thou  lovest  only  the  good  members  of  thy  flock,  this 
is  not  thankworthy  ;  rather  win  the  froward  by  meek- 
ness. All  sores  are  not  healed  with  the  same  salve. 
Assuage  acute  pains  by  embrocations.  Be  prudent  in 
all  things  as  a  serpent,  and  harmless  as  a  dove.  Be 
sober,  as  a  wrestler  of  God  ;  thy  prize  is  incorruptibi- 
lity and  life  eternal.  Stand  firm,  as  an  anvil  smitten. 
A  good  athlete  is  buffeted,  and  conquers.  Be  more 
earnest  than  thou  art  :  watch  for  the  season  ;  wait 
for  Him  who  is  above  seasons,'*  Him  who  is  timeless, 
viewless,  and  yet  made  visible  for  our  sakes  ;  Him 
who  is  impalpable  and  impassible,  and  yet  suffered 
and  endured  all  things  for  us.  Let  not  the  widows  of 
the  Church  be  uncared  for  ;  be  thou  their  care-taker 
with  the  Lord,  Let  nothing  be  done  in  the  Church 
without  thy  mind,  and  do  thou  nothing  without  God  ; 
but  whatever  thou  doest,^  be  steadfast.  Let  Church 
assemblies  be  more  frequent.  Search  out  every  one 
by  name  (3  John  15).  Despise  not  slaves,  male  or 
female.  But  let  them  not  be  puffed  up  ;  rather  let 
them  serve  to  the  glory  of  God,  that  they  may  obtain 
a  better  freedom  ;  and  let  them  not  crave  to  be  manu- 
mitted from  the  public  purse,  lest  they  be  slaves  of 
evil  desires.  Exhort  our  sisters  to  love  the  Lord,  and 
to  keep  themselves  pure  to  their  husbands  in  flesh 
and  spirit ;  likewise  exhort  our  brethren  in  Christ  to 

^  i.  e.  Christ.     Cp.  Iren,  iii.  i6.  6,  "omni  tempore  priorem." 
^  C.4.  The  MS.  has  ovrep  OTAE  Trpdaaeis,  evaTaOrjs,   This  is  hardly  in- 
telligible.    I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  true  reading  is  onep  CT  AE 
{av  6e),  and  the  old  version  "  quod  operaris  "  confirms  this,  and  I  have 
translated  the  sentence  accordingly. 


S.  IGNATIUS'  EPISTIE  TO  THE  ROMANS.  141 

love  their  partners  as  the  Lord  loves  the  Church.  If 
any  one  can  remain  in  continency  ^  to  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  of  our  flesh,  let  him  do  it  without  boasting  ; 
if  he  boasts,  he  perishes  ;  and  if  he  is  thought  more 
of'  than  the  Bishop,  he  is  depraved.  It  is  seemly  for 
men  and  women,  about  to  marry,  to  contract  that 
union  with  the  approval  of  the  Bishop,  that  it  may  be 
according  to  the  Lord,  and  not  for  concupiscence. 
Let  everything  be  done  to  the  glory  of  God.  Please 
Him  whose  soldiers  ye  are  (2  Tim.  ii.  4),  and  from 
whom  ye  receive  your  pay.  Let  none  of  you  be  a 
deserter.  Let  your  baptism  remain  as  your  armour  ; 
let  faith  be  your  helmet,  love  your  spear,  patience  your 
panoply,  your  good  works  be  deposits,  that  ye  may 
receive  a  due  reward.  Be  long-suffering  to  one 
another  in  meekness,  as  God  to  you.  May  I  have  joy 
of  you  for  ever !     Fare  ye  well  in  the  Lord." 

The  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  though  written  earlier 
than  the  Epistles  to  Smyrna,  Philadelphia,  and  Poly- 
carp,  namely  on  Aug.  24th,  at  Smyrna,  about  four 
months  before  his  martyrdom  at  Rome,  yet  in  some 
respects  may  be  regarded  as  the  consummation  of  all 
his  Epistles,  because  he  there  speaks  in  anticipation 
of  that  martyrdom. 

One  preliminary  remark  here  as  to  this  Epistle. 
It  will  have  been  seen  that  S.  Ignatius  in  his  Epistles 
is  very  strict  and  explicit  in  his  view  of  Church  order 

"  "  Do  not  impose  the  yoke  of  celibacy  on  any,"  (says  Ignatius,  frag, 
vi.,)  "  for  when  it  is  compulsory,  it  is  perilous  and  hard  to  be  kept." 

7  Who  was  perhaps  married,  says  Zahn,  quoting  Clement,  Horn.  iii. 
64,  for  this  use  of  7i'wcr0f)i/ai.  The  Council  of  Gangra,  A.  D.  325,  can.  4, 
enacted,  "  If  any  of  those  who  practise  celibacy  for  the  Lord's  sake 
exalt  himself  over  those  who  are  married,  let  him  be  anathema." — 
Jacobson. 


142        PRIMITIVE  VIEWS  ON  ROMAN  SUPREMACY. 

and  government,  and  in  his  directions  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  due  reverence  for  Episcopacy.  If  therefore 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  at  that  time  had  been — as  his 
successors  now  claim  to  be — the  supreme  Head  of 
the  Universal  Church  ;  and  if  this  supremacy  had 
been  instituted — as  they  affirm — by  Christ  Himself, 
Whose  Vicar  on  earth  the  Bishop  of  Rome  now  claims 
to  be  ;  and  if  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  been — as  he 
now  professes  to  be — Infallible,  and  the  Guide  and 
Teacher  of  the  Church  in  all  matters  of  Faith  and 
Morals,  it  is  certain  that  Ignatius,  who  was  so  strenuous 
an  assertor  of  the  claims  of  Episcopacy,  would  have 
been  no  less  a  zealous  champion  of  the  Papacy. 
The  Epistles  of  S.  Ignatius  are  fatal  to  all  the  Papal 
pretensions,  S.  Ignatius  writes  an  Epistle  to  the 
Church  of  Rome,  but  he  does  not  even  mention  the 
Bishop  of  Rome.  This  is  quite  in  harmony  with  what 
S.  Clement,  Bishop  of  Rome,  represents  as  the  Eccle- 
siastical organization  of  that  Church.  He  writes  in 
the  name  of  the  Roman  Church  ;  but  never  mentions 
himself  as  Bishop,  or  claims  any  reverence  on  that 
account  (see  above,  p.  85 ).  There  seems  to  be  something 
almost  of  a  providential  dispensation  in  these  cir- 
cumstances, and  they  supply  a  practical  protest  against 
all  modern  Papal  encroachments  and  usurpations. 

S.  Ignatius  writes  with  Asiatic  fervour  concerning 
his  own  future  martyrdom,  but  this  was  not  the  lan- 
guage of  fanatical  enthusiasm  ;  it  was  not  a  sudden 
outburst  of  a  violent  conflagration,  but  a  calmly  burn- 
ing flame  of  zeal  and  love  for  Christ,  and  of  desire  to 
be  with  Him.  It  burned  brightly  to  the  end  ;  it  was 
not  dimmed  in  the  four  months'  interval  between  his 
letter  to  the  Romans  and  his  death  at  Rome. 

"  Do  not,"  he  says,  "  intercede  for  me  that  I  may  be 


S.  IGNA  TIUS  ON  HIS  0  WN  FUTURE  MA  R  TYRD  OM.     143 

spared.  I  shall  never  have  so  fair  an  opportunity  of 
winning  God.  If  you  hold  your  peace,  I  shall  be  His. 
If  you  are  lovers  of  my  flesh,  I  shall  be  a  renegade.^ 
Do  not  grant  me  anything  more  than  to  be  poured 
out  as  a  libation  to  my  God  (2  Tim.  iv.  6),  while  yet 
the  altar  is  being  prepared  for  me,  in  order  that  ye, 
being  my  chorus  in  love,  may  sing  praises  to  the 
Father  in  Christ,  that  He  has  thought  me,  the  Bishop 
of  Syria,  worthy  to  be  seized  (as  a  prey),  having 
summoned  me  from  the  East  to  the  West.  Glorious  it 
is  for  me  to  have  a  sunset  from  the  world  to  God,  in 
order  that  I  may  have  a  sunrise  hereafter  from  the 
world  to  Him.  Only  pray  for  me  that  I  may  have 
strength  both  within  and  without,  that  I  may  not  only 
be  called,  but  be  proved  to  be,  a  Christian.  For  if  I 
am  proved  to  be,  then  I  shall  be  able  to  be  called 
one,  and  to  be  faithful  when  I  am  no  longer  seen 
by  the  world.  Nothing  that  is  seen  is  eternal.  '  The 
things  that  are  seen  are  temporal ;  the  things  that  are 
not  seen  are  eternal.'  Our  God  Jesus  Christ  being 
in  the  Father  is  made  more  manifest  (in  us).  Chris- 
tianity is  not  a  thing  of  silence^  only,  but  of  greatness. 
I  am  writing  to  the  Church.  I  charge  all  ;  since  of 
my  own  free  will  I  die  for  God,  if  you  do  not  hinder 
me.  I  beseech  you,  be  not  to  me  like  an  unseason- 
able boon.  Allow  me  to  be  the  food  of  wild  beasts, 
that  by  them  I  may  win  God  ;  I  am  God's  wheat,  and 
may  I  be  ground  by  their  teeth  to  be  pure  bread  for 
Christ.     Rather,  caress  the  wild  beasts,  that  when  I  am 

^  Or  "  backslider, "  cap,  2.  On  -naXiv  rpexwr,  starting  back,  may  I  refer 
to  my  note  on  S.  Hippolytus,  p.  124,  TraXivSpo/x^lv? 

^  Perhaps  for  (Tkott^s  we  may  read  (r/coTrf/s,  of  sight ;  that  is,  Christianity 
is  not  a  thing  to  be  gazed  at  as  a  pompous  spectacle,  but  a  thing  of 
solid  grandeur.  Some  reasons  for  this  conjecture  may  be  seen  in  a 
note  on  Theocritus,  xiv.  17. 


144  LIFE  IN  DEATH. 

dead  I  may  be  a  burden  to  no  one.  Then  shall  I  be 
a  disciple  of  Christ,  when  the  world  no  longer  sees  me. 
Pray  to  Christ  for  me  that  I,  by  their  means,  may 
become  a  sacrifice  to  God.  Forgive  me ;  I  know 
what  is  good  for  me.  Now  I  begin  to  be  a  disciple. 
Let  nothing  visible  or  invisible  grudge  me  my  winning 
of  Christ.  Fire,  and  the  Cross,  assaults  of  wild  beasts, 
lacerations,  divulsions,  scattering  of  my  bones,  crush- 
ing of  my  limbs,  the  grinding  of  my  whole  body,  the 
fiendish  torments  of  the  devil, — let  them  all  come  at 
once  against  me,  only  that  I  may  win  Christ.  The 
pleasures  of  this  world,  and  the  kingdom  of  this  world, 
will  do  me  no  good  ;  rather  would  I  die '  into  Christ 
Jesus,  than  be  king  of  the  ends  ^f  the  earth.  For 
what  will  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gains  the  whole  world 
and  loses  his  own  soul  }  (Matt.  xvi.  26.  Mark  viii.  36.) 
Him  I  seek  Who  died  for  us.  Him  I  desire  Who 
rose  again  for  us.  My  birthday  is  at  hand.  Brethren, 
forgive  me  ;  do  not  hinder  me  from  living ;  do  not 
wish  me  to  die ;  me,  who  long  to  be  God's  ;  do  not 
compliment  me  away  as  a  gift  to  the  world  (cp.  Acts 
XXV.  II,  yapLGadOaC). 

"  Suffer  me  to  gain  the  sight  of  the  pure  light.  When 
I  am  there,  I  shall  be  a  man  of  God.  Suffer  me  to  be 
an  imitator  of  the  Passion  of  my  God.  Whoever  has 
Him  (Christ)  in  him,  let  him  consider  what  I  desire, 
and  feel  with  me,  knowing  what  constraineth  me. 
The  ruler  of  this  world  desires  to  have  me  as  his 
spoil,  and  to  corrupt  my  resolve  for  God.  Let  none 
of  you  abet  him  in  this  ;  rather,  be  mine  (my  friends), 
that  is,  be  God's.  Let  no  evil  eye  be  in  you.  Even 
if  I  ask  you  (to  pray  for  my  reprieve)  when  I  come  to 
you,  do  not  grant  my  request.  Comply  rather  with 
^  Note  this,  die  into  Him  Who  is  the  Life. 


LONGINGS  FOR  THE  FUTURE  LIFE.  145 

what  I  now  write  to  you.  While  I  yet  live,  I  write  to 
you,  longing  to  die.  My  Love-  has  been  crucified 
(I  desire  to  die  with  Him),  and  there  is  not  in  me  any 
(earthly)  fire  that  loves  (material)  wood,  but  a  living 
spring  of  water  which  speaks  within  me  and  says, 
*  Come  away  to  the  Father.'  I  have  no  pleasure  in 
corruptible  food,  or  in  this  life's  joys.  I  long  for  the 
bread  of  God,  heavenly  bread,  bread  of  life,  which  is 
the  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  Who  was 
born  of  the  Seed  of  David  and  Abraham  ;  and  I  long 
for  the  drink  of  God,  which  is  His  Blood,  love  incor- 
ruptible, and  life  everlasting  (c.  7). 

"  I  pray  you  by  this  short  letter,  believe  me,  Jesus 
Christ  will  manifest  to  you  that  I  speak  these  things 
in  the  truth  :  He  Who  is  the  Mouth  that  cannot  lie, 
by  Whom  the  Father  spake  in  the  truth.  Pray  for 
me  that  I  may  attain.  I  write  not  to  you  according 
to  the  flesh,  but  according  to  the  mind  of  God.  If  I 
suffer,  then  ye  loved  ^  me  ;  if  I  am  rejected  (from  suf- 
fering), ye  hated  me. 

"  Remember  in  your  prayers  the  Church  in  Syria, 
which  now  has  God  for  its  Shepherd  instead  of  me. 
Christ  Jesus  alone  will  be  its  Bishop,  and  your  love. 
My  spirit  salutes  you,  and  the  love  of  the  Churches 
which  have  received  me  in  the  Name  of  Christ,  not  as 
a  mere  passer-by  :  even  the  Churches  which  were  not 
under  my  charge  conducted  me  on  my  journey 
according  to  the  flesh,''  city  by  city.     I  write  this  to 

2  i.e.  Christ,  the  "  Desire  of  all  Nations ;  "  see  on  Hagg.  ii.  7.  "  Love 
crucified"  is  the  subject  of  a  poem  by  Ausonius,  Idyl.  vi.  ;  cp,  Nitzsch, 
Mythol.  i.  322.  The  other  interpretation,  "  my  earthly  desires,"  seems 
to  fall  far  below  the  loftiness  of  the  original. 

'  The  MSS.  have  rjO^hriaaTe.  Perhaps  we  should  read  i(pi\r]<rare, 
ye  loved  me i  but  see  Isaiah  v.  24  in  Ixx. 

*  As   contrasted   with    his    spiritual    pilgrimage    to    his    heavenly 

L 


146       FROM  PORTUS  TO  MARTYRDOM  AT  ROME. 

you  from  Smyrna  by  the  hands  of  Ephesians,  to  whom 
blessings  are  due.  I  write  on  the  9th  day  before  the 
calends  of  September  (August  24).  Fare  ye  well  in 
the  patience  of  Jesus  Christ  for  evermore." 

On  his  way  from  Portus  Romanus,  the  harbour  of 
Rome,  Ignatius  was  escorted  by  many  Christians,  his 
arrival  having  been  noised  abroad,^  and  they  were 
affected  with  conflicting  sentiments  of  joy  and  fear. 
Some  of  them  (says  the  ancient  record  of  his  Mar- 
tyrdom) he  quieted,  who,  being  fervent  in  spirit, 
promised  to  appease  the  people  so  that  they  might 
not  seek  his  death  ;  but  being  made  aware  of  this, 
when  he  had  saluted  them  all,  and  reminded  them  of 
their  genuine  love,  and  having  persuaded  them  not  to 
grudge  him  in  his  hastening  to  the  Lord,  he  knelt 
down  upon  his  knees  together  with  all  the  brethren, 
and  besought  the  Son  of  God  on  behalf  of  the  Church, 
and  for  the  cessation  of  the  persecution,  and  for 
mutual  love. 

He  was  then  carried  with  haste  to  the  Amphi- 
theatre at  Rome.  Forthwith  he  was  cast  to  the 
wild  beasts,  according  to  the  order  of  the  Emperor 
Trajan,  when  the  games,  in  which  they  vied  with 
one  another  in  ambitious  rivalry,  were  about  to  be 
ended  ;  for  the  day  was  a  high  day,  which  in  the  Roman 
tongue  is  called  the  13th,  on  which  they  eagerly 
thronged  together  to  the  Amphitheatre.  He  was 
thrown  to  the  wild  beasts,  near  the  temple  (of  Jupiter 
Latiaris);  so  that  the  desire  of  the  holy  Martyr  was 
fulfilled,  according  to  the  saying  "  the  desire  of  the 

home  ;    and  ministering  to  his    bodily   needs  in  his  journey  toward 
Rome 
'=>  Ignat.  Martyr,  c.  6. 


MARTYRDOM— COLOSSEUM— ARCH  OF  CON-       147 
STANTINE. 

righteous  shall  be  granted"  (Prov.  x.  24),  "that  he 
might  not  be  a  trouble  to  any  of  his  brethren  in  the 
gathering  together  of  his  mortal  remains,  as  in  his 
Epistles  he  had  expressed  his  wish  that  his  consum- 
mation might  be.  Only  the  harder  bones  were  left, 
which  were  conveyed  to  Antioch,  and  deposited  in 
linen,  a  priceless  treasure  bequeathed  to  the  holy 
Church  by  the  grace  which  was  in  the  Martyr." 

The  Amphitheatre  at  Rome,  in  which  Ignatius  was 
martyred,  and  of  which  a  large  part  remains,  was  the 
Colosseum,  so  called  from  the  colossal  statue  of  the 
Emperor  Nero  which  stood  near  it.  Its  more  proper 
ancient  name  was  the  "  Flavian  Amphitheatre,"  having 
been  begun  by  one  Emperor  of  the  Flavian  family, 
Vespasian,  and  com.pleted  by  another,  his  son  Titus, 
who  dedicated  it,  A.D.  80. 

In  the  arena  of  that  Amphitheatre  S.  Ignatius, 
having  been  brought  from  Antioch  to  Rome  that  he 
might  do  honour  to  heathenism,  being  full  of  that  holy 
courage  which  the  grace  of  God  alone  could  give,  en- 
countered with  calmness  the  wild  beasts  let  loose  upon 
him  from  the  dens  below  the  seats  of  the  cavea  ;  and 
he  preached,  by  his  martyrdom,  a  sermon  which  will 
never  be  forgotten,  on  behalf  of  Christianity,  in  that 
enormous  building,  which  would  hold  8o,ooo  persons. 

A  little  to  the  west  of  the  Colosseum  stands  the 
Triumphal  Arch  of  the  first  Christian  Emperor,  Con- 
stantine,  a  witness  of  the  effects  produced  in  the 
history  of  the  World  by  such  sufferings  as  those  of 
S.  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch  and  Martyr. 


L  2 


CHAPTER  XII. 

State  of  the  Church  under  Hadrian — Apologies — Anto- 
ninus Pius — Justin  Martyr — Persecutions  under 
Marcus  A  urelius. 

At  Antioch,  the  city  of  S.  Ignatius,  the  Emperor 
Hadrian  succeeded  Trajan  on  the  3rd  of  the  Ides  of 
August  (Aug.  nth),  A.D.  117,  and  continued  to  reign 
till  July  loth,  A.D.  138. 

Whether  he  himself  was  a  persecutor  of  the  Church 
is  doubtful.  Tertullian  says  he  was  not  (Apol.  5). 
But  that  the  Church  was  persecuted  in  his  reign  is 
certain  from  positive  testimony  (S.  Jerome,  Epist.  84 ; 
cp.  Tillemont,  ii.  pp.  224 — 232),  and  from  the  fact  that 
Apologies  in  defence  of  Christianity  were  written  at 
that  time,  and  were  presented  to  him  in  order  that  he 
might  be  persuaded  to  restrain  the  violence  of  her 
enemies. 

An  Apology  for  Christianity  was  written  by  Ouad- 
ratus,  eminent  for  his  piety,  learning,  and  mis- 
sionary zeal,  who  offered  his  appeal  to  Hadrian, 
A.D.  126  (S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  c  19;  Euseb.  iii.  37. 
Euseb.  Chron.).  Another  Apology  was  composed  by 
Aristides,  first  a  philosopher  by  profession,  and  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Athens  (S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  20). 
These  Apologies  have  not  been  preserved.  In  conse- 
quence of  them,  the  Emperor  Hadrian  addressed  a 
circular  letter   to  the    Proconsul   of  Asia,  Minucius 


HADRIAN'S  RESCRIPT— ANTINOUS— JERUSALEM    149 
DESTROYED. 

Fundanus,  and  other  Rulers  of  Provinces,  and  ordered 

them  to  take  care  that   if  accusations    are    brought 

before  them   against   the   Christians,   they  are  to  be 

made    according    to    the    statutory    provisions    with 

regard  to  crimes  forbidden  by  the  laws,  and  not  in  a 

tumultuary  and  irregular  manner,  and  that  malignant 

calumniators    of  them    should    be   visited    by   legal 

penalties  (Justin,  Apol.  §  6Z.     Euseb.  iv.  8  and  9). 

The  public  acts  of  Hadrian  were  providentially 
made  conducive  to  the  repression  of  Paganism  and  the 
spread  of  Christianity. 

One  of  these  acts  was  his  divinization  of  his  minion 
Antinous.  This  took  place  in  A.D.  133.  In  this  apo- 
theosis the  grossest  sin  was  consecrated.  A  temple 
was  built,  and  altars  erected  to  him  by  the  Emperor ; 
Priests  were  appointed,  and  games  celebrated  to  his 
honour  (Euseb.  iv.  8.  Spartian.  Vit.  Hadrian,  c.  14). 
Such  public  glorifications  of  vice  put  weapons  into 
the  hands  of  Christians  against  Paganism  (Justin 
Martyr,  Apol.  i.  §  29). 

Another  act  of  Hadrian  which  was  favourable  to 
Christianity  was  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  him 
in  A.D.  135,  in  consequence  of  the  rebellion  of  the 
Jews  under  Barcochebas  ("  Son  of  a  Star,"  Euseb.  iv. 
6). 

The  Jews  were  expelled  from  Jerusalem,  and  were 
disabled  from  persecuting  the  Church.  Five  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  Jews  are  said  to  have  perished  in 
that  war.  Bishops,  no  longer  of  Jewish  but  of  Gentile 
race,  presided  over  the  Christians  there  (Euseb.  iv.  6). 
The  Church  is  described  by  Eusebius  as  making 
great  advances  at  that  time  (Euseb.  iv.  7). 

It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  under  Hadrian's 
successor,  Antoninus  Pius,  A.D.  138— 161,  the  Church 


150        ANTONINUS  PIUS— MARTYRDOMS— JUSTIN 
MARTYR. 

did  not  suffer  from  persecution.     What  was  true  of 

Hadrian  may  be  said  of  him.     The  Emperor  himself 

was    not   a  persecutor.     Tertullian  expressly  affirms 

this  (Apol.  c.  5).     But  Christianity  suffered  from  the 

populace.     The  most  powerful  and  numerous  classes 

were  leagued  against  it ;  and  their  rage,  smouldering 

for  a  time,  broke  forth  in   fitful  eruptions  from  what 

may  be  called   a  volcanic  crater  of  violent  passion. 

This  appears  from  the  fact  that  in  the  first  year  of  his 

reign,  Telesphorus,   Bishop  of   Rome,  was    martyred 

(Iren.  iii.  3.     Euseb.  iv.  10),  and  that  Justin   Martyr 

presented  to  the  Emperor  and  the  Roman  Senate  two 

Apologies  on  behalf  of  those  "  who  are  unjustly  hated, 

and  injuriously  treated  by  all   men  "  (Justin  Martyr, 

Apol.   i.    i).      Other  Christians  in   Asia  appealed  to 

him  for  protection  against  the  cruelties  perpetrated 

against   them  (Euseb.   iv.    12).    And    it  is  stated   by 

Melito,    Bishop    of   Sardis    (in    Euseb.    iv.    26),    that 

Antoninus    Pius  issued    Edicts    to    various    cities    of 

Greece,    among   which    he    mentions    Larissa,    Thes- 

salonica,  and  Athens,  prohibiting  them  from  exciting 

tumultuary  riots  against  the  Christians. 

The  Apology  of  Justin  Martyr,  to  Antoninus  Pius,^ 
is  an  interesting  specimen  of  appeals  to  the  Imperial 
Power  on  behalf  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Author  begins  with  a  claim  for  bare  justice. 
He  attributes  the  persecution  of  Christians  to  the 
instigation  of  spirits  of  evil, — demons, — worshipped 
by  the  heathen,  but   not  by  Christians  (c.  6,  9,    13), 

^  As  to  its  date,  M.  Waddington  infers  from  the  title  Verissimiis  given 
to  M.  Aurelius  at  the  beginning  of  it,  that  it  was  written  immediately 
after  the  death  of  Hadrian,  a.d.  138,  inasmuch  as  he  then  gave  up  the 
name  Verissiinus  assigned  to  him  by  Hadrian,  and  took  that  of  Verus 
in  its  place.  But  Justin  speaks  of  Christ's  birth  as  one  htcndred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  cap.  46,  p.  228,  Otto  ;  Bp.  Kaye's  Justin  Martyr,  p.  12. 


JUSTIN  MARTYR'S  FIRST  APOLOGY.  151 

who  only  adore  God  the  Father,  His  Son,  attended  by 
a  host  of  good  angels,"  and  the  prophetic  Spirit  He 
argues  that  the  true  character  of  Christians  is  not  to 
be  inferred  from  some  few  who  bear  that  name  and 
live  unchristian  lives,  but  from  those  who  die  in  the 
faith.  Christians  do  not  expect  an  earthly  kingdom, 
but  they  promote  the  peace  of  all  kingdoms.  The 
goodness  of  Christianity  is  proved  from  its  moral 
precepts  as  to  Chastity,  Charity,  Kindness  to  the 
poor.  Patience,  Loyalty  to  Rulers.  If  Christians  are 
persecuted,  their  persecutors  will  be  called  to  an 
account  at  the  Day  of  Judgment  (c.  i8),  when  all 
bodies  will  be  raised  from  the  dead,  and  those  persons 
who  calumniate  the  Christians  will  be  cast  with  the 
Devil  into  everlasting  fire  (c.  17,  28).  He  declares  his 
faith  in  Christ's  (c.  21,  45),  Incarnation,  Passion,  and 
Ascension  ;  and  asserts  that  the  fulness  of  divinely 
revealed  truth  is  to  be  found  only  in  Christianity  ;  he 
gives  an  example  of  the  chastity  of  Christian  young 
men,  compared  with  Hadrian's  favourite  Antinous 
(c.  29).  He  shows  that  the  Incarnation  and  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Apostles  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  His 
Death  and  Ascension,  and  the  Destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  and  reproba- 
tion of  the  Jews,  were  foretold  by  the  Hebrew  Pro- 
phets (c.  30—41,  45—53).  He  protests  against  the 
doctrine  of  fatalism,  and  declares  the  freedom  of  man's 

^  C.  6,  tIv  Trap"  avTOv  vihv  iXOovTU,  Kal  didd^avra  rj/xas  ravra,  Koi 
rhv  rSiP  aAXoji/  kirofx^vwv  Kal  i^oixoiov/jcevajv  ayadwu  ayyeXwv  aTparhv, 
irvev/jLo.  T6  rh  irpocp-qTiKhv  (Ti^6p.(:Qa.  On  this  disputed,  and  perhaps 
corrupt,  passage,  see  Bp.  Kaye  on  Justin  Martyr,  p.  54,  and  Otto's 
note,  p.  149,  and  Neander,  Church  History,  ii.  p.  372.  Whatever  may 
be  the  meaning  of  it,  it  is  clear  that  Christians  did  not  worship  angels, 
from  Apol.  i.  13,  where  the  Three  Persons  of  the  Trmity  are  mentioned 
as  the  only  objects  of  adoration,  and  from  Apol.  i.  16,  17. 


152       L ORD'S  DA  Y— BAPTISM— HOL  \  EO CHAR] ST. 

will.  He  explains  the  purpose  of  Christian  Baptism 
(c.  6i)  ;  he  affirms  that  the  Son  of  God  appeared  to 
Moses  (c.  63),  and  describes  the  celebration  of  the  Holy- 
Eucharist  and  Christian  assemblies  on  the  Lord's  Day 
(c.  65 — 6y  ;  see  above  pp.  60—64).  He  ends  by  an 
appeal  to  the  Emperor,  and  conjures  him,  if  he  cannot 
accept  the  doctrines  of  Christians,  at  least  not  to  con- 
demn the  Christians  to  death  for  professing  them. 
He  subjoins  a  copy  of  Hadrian's  rescript  on  their 
behalf^ 

In  his  second  Apology,  which  was  also  addressed 
to  Antoninus  Pius,  and  to  the  Senate,'*  Justin  repeats 
that  the  persecutors  are  instigated  by  evil  Spirits, 
and  exemplifies  this  by  an  account  of  three  persons 
condemned  to  die,  merely  because  they  were  Chris- 
tians ;  and  states  his  apprehension  that  he  himself  will 
be  delated  for  his  Christianity  by  Crescens,  the  Cynic 
Philosopher,  and  be  crucified  (c.  2,  3).  He  explains 
why  Christians  never  commit  suicide,  and  never  deny 
that  they  are  Christians  (c.  4). 


2  The  other  two  documents  annexed  in  the  editions  of  this  Apology, 
i.e.  the  Letters  of  M,  Aurelius,  are  probably  not  genuine.  See  Otto, 
p.  274,  and  Heinichen  on  Euseb.  iv.  12,  and  v.  5. 

^  The  prefecture  of  Urbicus  referred  to  in  Apology,  ii.  chap,  i,  2,  is 
determined  by  Borghesi  to  belong  to  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius 
(CEuvres,  torn.  viii.  p.  547,  Paris,  1872,  in  a  letter  written  in  1856). 
It  must  have  begun  at  latest  befoj-e  i^'j  or  158,  when  Apuleius  spoke  his 
Apology,  and  have  concluded  some  time  before  the  death  of  Pius  (161). 
Borghesi  supposes  him  to  have  been  succeeded  as  city  prefect,  by  P. 
Salvius  Julianus,  author  of  the  Perpetual  Edict,  under  whom  he  places 
the  martyrdom  of  S.  Felicitas  in  162;  and  he  again,  according  to  the  same 
authority,  was  succeeded  in  163  by  Q.  Junius  Rusticus,  under  whom 
Justin  was  martyred  in  that  year  (Borghesi,  1.  c;  cp.  tom.  v.  p.  56, 
note,  Paris,  1869).  That  Rusticus  was  prefect  towards  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  M.  Aurelius  is  clear  from  a  rescript  of  the  Divijratres 
(M.  Aurelius  and  Q.  Verus),  addressed  to  him,  preserved  in  Digest, 
xlix.  I,  I,  §  3. 


FUTURE  REWARDS  AND  PUNISHMENTS.  153 

He  answers  the  objection  that  if  Christianity  were 
from  God,  God  would  defend  the  Christians  against 
their  enemies  ;  and  he  proves  God's  justice. 

The  reparation  of  man  and  the  remedy  for  all  evils 
is  (he  says)  in  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  Who 
exercises  power  over  evil  spirits,  and  gave  that  power 
to  others  ;  and  will  eventually  punish  all  demons. 

The  world  is  preserved  for  the  sake  of  Christians  ; 
and  their  enemies  the  devil  and  his  angels  will  one 
day  be  cast  into  everlasting  fire,  when  the  world  will 
be  burnt ;  not  by  any  agency  of  Fate,  which  leaves 
no  place  for  the  exercise  of  freedom  and  of  virtue,  but 
by  God's  command. 

The  virtues  of  the  Christians,  who  are  hated  by  evil 
spirits,  and  who  profess  faith  in  the  Incarnate  Word, 
and  denounce  eternal  doom  on  the  powers  of  evil,  are 
manifest  by  means  of  Persecution. 

Eternal  Punishment  is  consonant  with  reason  and 
God's  justice  and  providence  (c.  8,  9). 

Christians  are  also  hated  by  evil  spirits  because 
Christ  has  endued  the  meanest  of  them  with  grace 
to  despise  earthly  glory,  and  fear,  and  death.  The 
constancy  of  Christians  under  persecution  shows  that 
they  have  attained  true  and  eternal  good  things,  and 
the  express  image  of  virtue  ;  and  it  also  refutes  the 
accusations  of  the  heathen  against  them.  For  how 
could  men  so  joyfully  encounter  death,  if  they  were 
guilty  of  the  crimes  imputed  to  them  by  their  enemies  } 
He  shows  that  Christian  Philosophy  is  superior  to 
that  of  Plato-  and,  much  more,  to  licentious  popular 
Literature — and  requests  the  Emperor  and  the  Senate 
to  give  a  fair  hearing  to  their  cause. 

Antoninus  Pius  died  on  March  7th,  a.d.  161,  in  the 
seventy-fifth  year  of  his   age,  and  was  succeeded  by 


154  MA  RCUS  A  URELIUS— PERSE  C  U  TION. 

his  adopted  son  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  Stoic  philosopher, 
who  reigned  nineteen  years.  He  did  not  repress  the 
popular  outbreaks  against  Christianity,  but  issued  new 
edicts  against  it,  as  Melito  states  in  his  Apology 
written  at  that  time  (Euseb.  iv.  26).  *'  Shameless 
informers,"  he  says  to  the  Emperor,  "  men  who  covet 
the  goods  of  others,  taking  occasion  from  tJiese  edicts, 
openly  commit  brigandage,  and  spoil  by  night  and  by 
day  men  who  hurt  nobody,"  men  whom  Melito  calls 
"  a  race  of  God-fearing  persons." 

Another  Apology  for  the  Christians  was  presented 
to  the  Emperor  by  Athenagoras,  a  Christian  philoso- 
pher of  Athens  (after  A.D.  177 ;  see  Tillemont,  ii.  p.  321), 
which  is  still  extant. 

A  third  Apology  was  composed  by  Miltiades 
(Euseb.  V.  17.     S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  c.  39). 

A  fourth  by  ApoUinarius,  Bishop  of  Hierapolis,  in 
Phrygia  (Euseb.  iv.  26.     S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  c.  26). 

Marcus  Aurelius  was  much  engaged  in  wars  in 
Western  Europe,  especially  in  Germany  ;  and  was 
absent  from  Rome  for  eight  years  together — A.D. 
168 — 176.  He  must  not  therefore  be  held  responsible 
for  the  persecutions  in  other  parts  of  the  Empire. 

The  ethical  work  of  M.  Aurelius,^  concerning  his  own 
training  and  opinions,  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
interesting  productions,  and  is  regarded  by  some  as 
one  of  the  noblest  monuments,  of  pagan  Philosophy. 
Though  written  by  an  Emperor  of  Rome,  it  is  not  in 
Latin,  but  in  Greek. 

It  is  a  portraiture  of  the  Stoic  "  wise  man  "  painted 
by  himself  The  essence  of  Stoicism  was  exemption 
from  passion  {apathy).  "  It  is  a  noble  thing,"  said 
one  of  that  school — Seneca — "  to  have  the  fragility  of 

^  M.  Aurelius  Antoninus  de  Seipso,  ed.  Gataker.  Lond.  1643. 


STOICISM  UNFAVOURABLE  TO  CHRISTIANITY—  155 
JUSTIN  MARTYR. 

man,  and  the  security  of  God."  He  was  to  live  free 
from  passion,  and  above  it,  in  the  calm  atmosphere 
of  moral  self-complacency,  and  intellectual  self-suffi- 
ciency. 

The  vanity  of  such  professions  was  put  to  the  test 
by  Christianity.  The  Stoic  could  not  bear  a  rival, 
least  of  all  in  ethical  science.  The  claim  of  Christianity 
(such  as  we  have  seen  stated  by  Justin  Martyr)  to  be 
the  sole  depository  of  divine  truth,  chafed  his  pride, 
and  excited  his  rancour  and  resentment.  Marcus 
Aurelius,  in  his  philosophical  autobiography,  dismisses 
with  sarcastic  disdain  the  patient  resignation  and  hope 
and  faithful  joy  of  the  Christians  in  persecution,  as 
mere  stupid  obstinacy  (lib.  xi.  c.  3). 

Let  us  turn  to  the  counterpart  of  the  Stoic,  in  the 
Christian  philosopher  contemporary  with  him. 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  dialogue  at  Ephesus  with 
Trypho  the  Jew,  informs  us  that  he  had  studied  the 
philosophy  of  the  Gentile  Schools,  and  had  com- 
menced with  adopting  that  of  the  Stoics  (c.  Trypho. 
c.  2),  but  this  did  not  satisfy  him,  and  he  espoused 
that  of  Aristotle  ;  thence  he  passed  to  the  Pythagorean, 
and  then  adopted  Platonism  (c.  2).  Finally,  after  a 
troubled  voyage  of  restless  empiricism,  he  found  a 
harbour  of  rest  in  Christianity. 

He  still  retained  the  garb  of  a  philosopher  ;  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  was  ever  ordained  to  the 
Christian  Ministry.  He  was  a  native  of  Neapolis  in 
Samaria,  and  travelled  in  Asia,  Egypt,  and  Italy ; 
after  his  conversion  to  Christianity,  the  principal 
place  of  his  residence  seems  to  have  been  Rome 
(Euseb.  iv.  11).  There  he  established  a  School  of 
Christian  philosophy,  and  trained  many  distinguished 


UQ  y us 7 IN  MARTYR'S  PHILOSOPHICAL  EXPERIENCES. 

pupils,  one  of  whom  was  Tatian  (S.  Iren.  i.  31. 
Tillemont,  ii.  p.  367).  Heathen  Philosophy  was  thus 
brought  face  to  face  with  Christianity.  Justin  had 
weighed  all  heathen  systems  in  the  balance  of  a  de- 
liberative judgment,  and  had  found  them  wanting.  He 
was  not  content  that  Christianity  should  take  its  place 
side  by  side  with  them.  No  ;  it  was  an  Aaron's  rod 
which  would  swallow  up  all  others.  It  was  Daniel's 
"  stone  cut  out  without  hands,"  which  would  grind  all 
others  to  powder,  and  become  a  mountain,  and  fill  the 
Earth. 

No  wonder  that  under  a  Stoic  philosopher  like 
Marcus  Aurelius  on  the  imperial  throne,  the  Philoso- 
phies of  this  w^orld  should  feel  exasperated  in  being 
disturbed  in  their  domain  by  an  exclusive  Philosophy, 
which  claimed  the  right  to  dethrone  them,  and  to 
reign  supreme  in  their  place. 

So  it  was.  Crescens  the  Cynic,  notorious  for  his 
reckless  licentiousness,^  whom  Justin  anticipated  as 
his  own  future  assailant,  attacked  him  (Euseb.  iv.  16. 
Tatian,  c.  19,  p.  260,  ed.  Paris.  1742).  Crescens  had 
been  described  by  S.  Justin  in  his  Second  Apology 
(c.  3)  as  a  noisy  braggart — (^^Xo-v/ro^o?  and  (fnXoKo/jUTro^; 
rather  than  (piXoaocj^o^.  Justin  had  put  certain  inter- 
rogations to  him  concerning  Christianity,  and  his 
answers  had  shown  that  he  censured  and  condemned 
what  he  knew  nothing  of. 

P2piphanius  relates  that  Justin  suffered  martyrdom 
at  Rome  under  Rusticus,  Prefect  of  the  City  (Epiphan. 
Haer.  46.  Digest.  49,  t.  i.  1.  i.  p.  1849.  Acta  Mar- 
ty rum,  Ruinart,  p.  58),  who  was  the  preceptor  of 
the  Emperor  himself  in  Stoic  Philosophy  (Capitoli- 

^  See  the  character  of  Crescens  as  described  by  Tatian,  Orat.  adv.  Gr. 
c.  19. 


S.   JUSTIN'S  MARTYRDOM— S.  POLYCARP.        157 

nus,  Vit.  M.  Aurel.  3.  Dio  Cass.  Ixxi.  35.  Frontonis 
Epist.  i.  2.  M.  Aurelius  de  Seipso,  p.  23).  Justin 
suffered,  probably,  A.D.  163. 

The  effect  of  the  writings  and  death  of  S.  Justin, 
styled  pre-eminently  the  Martyr,  was  to  show  the  con- 
trast between  Christian  and  Heathen  Philosophy,  and 
to  prove  to  the  World  that  secular  ethical  systems  are 
not  tolerant  and  gentle,  whatever  they  may  profess  to 
be  (and  Stoicism  made  the  loudest  profession  to  be 
dispassionate),  and  that  genuine  Christian  Philosophy 
receives  the  gift  of  divine  grace,  which  enables  men 
not  only  to  live  holy  lives,  but  even  though  persecuted 
and  tortured,  to  die  happy  deaths. 

Let  us  pass  to  other  martyrdoms  which  led  to 
other  triumphs  of  Christianity. 

One  was  a  martyrdom  of  old  age,  the  others  of 
tender  womanhood,  girlhood,  and  boyhood  :  the  former 
of  S.  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  the  others  of  young 
men,  matrons,  maidens,  and  others  at  Lyons  and 
Vienne  in  Gaul. 

The  history  of  S.  Polycarp  is  linked  on  to  that  of 
S.  Ignatius,  as  we  have  seen  (pp.  129,  139).  They 
were  fellow-disciples  of  St.  John  (Iren.  iii.  3.  Euseb. 
v.  24).  Polycarp  was  probably  placed  as  Bishop  of 
Smyrna   by   him.     Some   have  identified   him    with 


'  On  this  persecution  see  Tillemont,  Empereurs,  M.  Aurele,  c.  3. 
Some  learned  persons  have  endeavoured  to  throw  back  the  martyr- 
dom of  Justin  from  the  reign  of  Aurehus  to  that  of  Antoninus  Pius. 
But  it  is  stated  by  Epiphanius  (hgeres.  46)  that  he  was  martyred  in  the 
prefecture  of  Rusticus  ;  and  it  has  been  shown  by  Borghesi  ( CEuvres, 
tom.  V.  p.  56,  ed.  Paris,  1869)  that  Rusticus  was  Prsefectus  Urbis  in 
the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurehus,  and  that  the  Martyrdom  took  place 
A.D.  163.  See  above,  p.  152,  note.  Cp.  Prof.  Blunt,  chap.  xiii.  p. 
284. 


158    S.  POL  YCARFS  EPISTLE  TO  THE  PHILIPFIANS. 

the  Angel  or  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna 
in  the  Apocalypse  (Rev.  ii.  8).  But  this  is  not 
probable. 

In  the  month  of  August,  A.D.  1 16,  Ignatius,  then  on 
his  journey  from  Antioch  to  his  martyrdom  at  Rome, 
was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  guest  of  Polycarp  at  Smyrna. 
Polycarp,  who  was  requested  by  the  Philippians  to 
send  them  copies  of  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius,  addressed 
a  letter  to  them  which  is  still  extant.  In  it  he  con- 
gratulates them  on  having  received  Ignatius  and  his 
companions,  "  whose  chains  are  divine  diadems."  He 
quotes  the  words  of  St.  Peter  (i  Pet.  i.  8,  13),  and  he 
mentions  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  them  (Phil.  ii.  10,  and 
cap.  3),  and  cites  numerous  passages  from  the  Gospels 
(Matt.  vii.  I,  2.  Luke  vi.  37.  Matt.  v.  3).  He  gives 
directions  to  laymen  (c.  4),  to  Deacons  (c.  5),  Widows 
(c.  4),  Virgins  (c.  5),  Priests  (c.  6);  and  com- 
mands the  faithful  to  submit  to  the  Priests  and  Dea- 
cons. "  Every  one  who  does  not  confess  Jesus  Christ 
to  have  come  in  the  flesh  is  an  Antichrist  (i  John 
iv.  3);  and  he  who  does  not  confess  the  Martyrdom  of 
the  Cross,  is  of  the  Devil  ;  and  he  who  wrests  the 
oracles  of  God  to  his  own  lusts,  and  says  that  there  is 
no  resurrection  of  the  body,  or  future  Judgment,  is  the 
first-born  of  Satan  ^  (c.  7).  Therefore,  shunning  the 
vanity  of  the  many  and  their  false  doctrines,  let  us  turn 
to  the  Word  which  has  been  delivered  to  us  from  the 
beginning  ;  let  us  watch  to  prayer,  and  continue  in 
fasting,  and  beseech  with  supplications  the  All-seeing 
God,  not  to  lead  us  into  temptations,  as  the  Lord 
hath  said  (Matt.  vi.  13),  for  the  spirit  is  willing,  but  the 
flesh  is  weak  (Matt.  xxvi.  41).     Let  us  cleave  unceas- 

^  The  reader  will  recognize  here  the  same  words  as  in  S.  Pol}xarp's 
reply  to  Marcion  the  heretic  at  Rome,     S.  Iren.  iii.  3.     Euseb.  iv.  14. 


S.  FOL  YCARP  COLLECTS  THE  EPISTLES  OF      159 
S.  IGNATIUS. 

ingly  to  our  hope^  and  to  the  earnest  of  our  righteous- 
ness, which  is  Christ  Jesus,  Who  bore  away  our  sins 
in  His  own  Body  on  the  tree  ;  Who  did  no  sin,  nor 
was  guile  found  in  His  mouth  (i  Pet.  ii.  22 — 24),  but 
for  our  sakes  bore  all  things  that  we  might  live  in 
Him. 

"  I  exhort  you  therefore  to  obey  the  word  of  right- 
eousness, and  to  exercise  all  patience,  which  you  saw 
with  your  eyes,  not  only  in  the  blessed  Ignatius, 
Zosimus,  and  Rufus,  but  in  others  of  your  own  body, 
and  in  Paul  and  the  rest  of  the  Apostles  ;  being  per- 
suaded that  they  did  not  run  in  vain,  but  in  faith  and 
righteousness,  and  that  they  have  arrived  at  their  due 
place  with  the  Lord,  with  Whom  they  suffered. 

"I  am  greatly  grieved  for  Valens,  who  was  ordained 
a  Presbyter  among  you,  that  he  so  little  knows  the 
place  that  was  given  him.  I  exhort  you  to  shun  all 
avarice,  to  be  chaste  and  truthful.  Abstain  from  all 
evil.  He  who  cannot  govern  himself  in  these  things, 
how  can  he  teach  others  }  I  greatly  grieve  for  him, 
and  for  his  wife.  May  God  give  them  true  repentance. 
Count  them  not  as  enemies,  but  restore  them  as  suf- 
fering and  erring  members,  that  ye  may  save  your 
whole  body  ;  doing  this,  ye  will  edify  yourselves. 

"I  am  persuaded  that  ye  are  well  versed  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  .  .  .  Pray  for  all  Saints.  Pray  for  Kings 
and  Authorities  and  Rulers,  for  those  who  persecute 
and  hate  us,  and  for  the  enemies  of  the  Cross,  that 
your  fruit  may  be  manifest  in  all  things,  and  ye  may 
be  perfect  in  Him. 

"  Ye  wrote  to  me,  ye  and  Ignatius,  that  if  any  one 
goes  to  Syria  (Antioch)  he  should  also  convey  your 
letters,  which  I  will  see  done,  if  I  have  convenient 
opportunity,    either  myself  in  person,  or  some   one 


160  S.  POLYCARFS  EPISCOPATE. 

whom  I  will  send  to  be  a  messenger  for  you.  I  send 
to  you  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius,  which  were  sent  to 
me  by  him,  and  as  many  other  letters  of  his  as  I  have, 
according  to  your  wish.  These  are  attached  to  the 
present  Epistle  ;  and  you  may  derive  great  profit  from 
them.  For  they  contain  faith,  and  patience,  and  all 
edification  appertaining  to  our  Lord.  And  do  you 
communicate  to  me  what  news  you  have  concerning 
Ignatius,  and  those  that  are  with  him. 

"  I  send  this  to  you  by  the  hand  of  Crescens,  whom 
I  have  commended  hitherto  to  you,  and  do  now  com- 
mend. For  his  conversation  with  us  has  been  blame- 
less, and  with  you  likewise,  as  I  believe.  Receive  his 
Sister,  also  commended  to  you,  when  she  comes  to 
you.  Farewell  in  Christ  Jesus.  Grace  be  with  you 
all.     Amen." 

Polycarp  continued  in  his  see  at  Smyrna  for  many 
years  after  the  martyrdom  of  his  friend  Ignatius,  and 
governed  the  Church  there.  Irenaeus  gives  an  in- 
teresting record  of  his  own  intercourse  with  him  when 
he  himself  was  young,  and  of  Polycarp's  clear  testi- 
mony to  the  Gospel,  and  of  his  earnest  and  indignant 
protest  against  nascent  heresies  (Euseb.  v.  20).  To 
this  we  shall  refer  hereafter,  when  we  come  to  speak 
of  Irenaius. 

Polycarp  visited  Rome  in  the  Episcopate  of  Ani- 
cetus,  and  was  received  by  him  with  brotherly  affec- 
tion, and  was  invited  by  him  to  celebrate  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  although  there  was  a  difference  then  be- 
tween the  Churches  of  Rome  and  of  Asia  as  to  the 
time  of  keeping  Easter  (S.  Iren.  iii.  3),  the  Asiatics 
celebrating  the  Paschal  Supper  on  the  14th  day  of  the 
moon,  with  the  Jews  ;  and,  three  days  later,  the  Feast 


S.  POLYCARP'S  MARTYRDOM.  161 

of  Easter,  or  Resurrection,  which  the  Latins  always 
kept  on  Sunday  (Euseb.  iv.  14,  15  ;  v.  23,  24). 

It  was  probably  during  his  stay  at  Rome  that  he 
met  Marcion  the  heretic,  who  "held  the  doctrine 
of  two  Gods,"  and  that  the  Law  of  Moses  was 
contrary  to  the  Gospel,  and  denied  that  Christ  was 
the  Son  of  the  Creator,  and  who  greeted  him  with  the 
question,  "  Dost  thou  not  recognize  me  ?  " — *'  Yes," 
was  the  reply  of  Polycarp,  "  I  recognize  thee  as  the 
first-born  of  Satan  "  (S.  Iren.  iii.  3,  S.  Jerome,  Scr. 
Eccl.  17). 

Polycarp  returned  from  Rome  to  Smyrna,  and  soon 
afterwards  (as  is  probable)  was  crowned  with  martyr- 
dom there.  It  took  place  on  a  Saturday,  Feb.  23rd, 
but  in  what  year,  is  not  certain.^ 

5  Eusebius  in  his  Chronicle  says  that  Polycarp  suffered  in  the  fifth  year 
of  Marcus  Aurelius,  commencing  March  A.D.  165.  If  this  is  true,  then, 
since  he  suffered  in  the  early  spring  of  the  year,  his  martyrdom  took  place 
in  A.D.  166  (Feb.  23;  see  below).  Eusebius  in  his  History  (iv.  15) 
states  that  he  was  martyred  in  the  reign  of  that  Emperor.  Eusebius  is 
generally  trustworthy  as  to  events  in  the  East.  S.  Jerome  also 
(Scr.  Eccl.  17)  says  that  -Polycarp  suffered  "regnante  Marco  Anto- 
nino  et  L.  Aurelio  Commodo,"  and  so  Syncellus  and  Suidas  (Clinton, 
F.  R.  ad  a.  166).  Eusebius  also  states  that  Anicetus,  Bishop  of  Rome, 
died  in  the  eighth  year  of  Marcus  (a.d.  168),  having  been  Bishop  for 
eleven  years  (H.  E.  iv.  19),  and  S.  Irenseus  affirms  that  Polycarp  was  at 
Rome  in  the  Pontificate  of  Anicetus,  which  has  been  commonly  placed 
between  a.d.  157  and  168  (S.  Iren.  iii.  3.    Euseb.  iv.  13). 

If  these  premises  are  correct,  S.  Polycarp  could  not  have  suffered 
in  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius,  and  so  early  as  A.D.  155.  But  it  has  been 
affirmed  by  some,  who  have  been  convinced  by  the  arguments  adduced 
by  M.  Waddington  in  his  learned  dissertation  on  the  life  of  the  rhe- 
torician Aristides  (Mem.  de  1' Academic  des  Inscriptions,  xxvi.  pp.  203 
—232),  and  in  his  Fastes  des  Provinces  Asiat.  i.  219),  that  S.  Polycarp 
suffered  in  the  preceding  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius,  Feb.  23,  A.D.  155. 

The  arguments  of  M.  Waddington  have  satisfied  Zahn  in  his  recent 
edition  of  S.  Polycarp,  p.  165,  and  Renan  and  Hingelfeld  and  other 
learned  men,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Bishop  Lightfoot  {Con- 
temporary Review,  May  1873,  p.  827  and  p.  838). 

Also  M.  Waddington,  referring  to  Letronne  and  Borghesi,  has  given 

M 


162  S.  POL  YCARP  'S  MAR  TYRD  OM. 

The  narrative  of  his  martyrdom  is  contained  in  the 
Epistle  of  the   Church   of  Smyrna  to  a  Church    in 

reasons  for  placing  the  Pontificate  of  Anicetus  at  an  earlier  date  than 
that  hitherto  assigned  to  it ;  and  these  reasons  have  satisfied  Cav.  De 
Rossi,  Bullet.  Anno  v.  pp.  49,  50.  The  principal  reason  for  the  opinion 
that  Polycarp  suffered  in  A.D.  155,  is  that  in  the  ancient  Acts  of  his 
Martyrdom,  Polycarp  is  related  to  have  suffered  when  Statins  Quadratus 
W2i%  Procojmil ;  and  M.  Waddington  is  supposed  to  have  proved  from 
ancient  inscriptions,  and  from  the  works  of  Aristides  the  rhetorician,  that 
Quadratus  was  Proconsul  A.D.  155. 

The  opinion  of  M.  Waddington  is  also  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  T. 
Statins  Quadratus  was  Consul  A.D.  142,  and  it  would  be  according  to 
ordinary  usage  that  he  should  succeed  to  the  Proconsulship  of  Asia 
about  twelve  years  afterwards  :  see  Marquardt,  Romische  Staatsverwal- 
tung,  ii.  406. 

However,  Marquardt  quotes  (ibid.)  several  instances  of  a  seventeen 
years'  interval,  and  one  of  nineteen,  between  the  Consulship  and  Pro- 
consulate. 

And  there  seem  to  be  some  objections  to  the  date  of  A.D.  155. 

In  the  month  of  January,  and  in  the  sixth  year  of  the  sickness  of 
Aristides  the  rhetorician,  as  described  by  himself,  Quadratus  was  Pro- 
consul of  Asia  (Aristid.  p.  451  ;  cp.  p.  521  ed.  Dindorf.  Lips.  1829). 

Also  at  that  time  the  Emperor  was  in  Syria  (p.  453). 

Also  (p.  454)  Aristides  there  refers  to  an  interview  he  saw  in  a  dream 
between  the  elder  Emperor  and  Bologesus,  King  of  Parthia,  and  adverts 
to  the  Parthian  War,  and  to  the  prospect  of  peace  between  the  two 
belligerents,  Rome  and  Parthia.     See  Clinton,  Fast.  Rom.  a.d.  165. 

But  these  chronological  notes  do  not  seem  to  tally  with  A.D.  1 5 5,  or  the 
time  of  Antoninus  Pius.  He  resided  constantly  at  Rome  (Merivale's 
Hist.  vii.  pp.  500,  512),  and  there  was  no  war  in  his  reign  with  Bologesus, 
King  of  Parthia.  Capitolinus  (in  M.  Aurel.  c.  8)  distinctly  states  that 
there  was  no  war  between  Bologesus  and  Rome  before  the  time  of  Marcus 
Anrdiiis,  who  received  the  title  of  Parthicus  on  the  conclusion  of  that 
war  (ibid.  c.  8,  9,  12). 

But  these  circumstances  fit  in  with  the  time  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and 
A.D.  166. 

The  Emperor  Verus  was  then  in  Syria  (Capitolin.  in  Vero,  c.  7. 
Eutropius,  viii.  10).  And  the  Parthian  War  with  Bologesus  was  then 
drawing  to  a  close  (Dio,  Ixxi.  2.  Orosius,  viii.  10).  Also  Aristides  relates 
that  in  the  ninth  year  of  his  sickness  he  received  an  are'Aeia,  or  immunity 
from  official  service,  from  the  Proconsul  of  Asia,  Pollio,  the  predecessor 
of  Severus  in  the  Proconsulate  (pp.  529,  530). 

This  immunity  was  confirmed  to  him  in  the  following  year,  when 
Severus  was  Proconsul,  by  royal  letters  "from  the  Emperor,  koX  tou 


MARTYRDOM  OF  S.  POLYCARP.  163 

Phrygia,  at  Philomelium,  and  to  the  other  Churches  of 
Christendom,  which  is  preserved  by  Eusebius  (iv.  15), 

■nailhs,  i.e.  and  ixomhis  son""  (p.  524),  He  uses  the  word  ttoTs  and  not 
vils  for  son,  and  this  term  seems  to  apply  better  to  Commodus  (who  had 
been  made  Csesar  in  a.d.  166,  and  was  born  a.d.  161)  than  it  would 
do  to  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  adopted  son  of  Antoninus  Pius.  And  he 
would  have  used  the  plural  number  trouZwv,  (i.  e.  including  Verus)  if 
he  had  been  speaking  oi  Antoninus  Pius.  See  Justin  Martyr,  Apol.  I, 
init.  And  tov  7rat55s  is  precisely  the  phrase  used  by  Melito  (Euseb. 
iv.  26),  speaking  of  M.  Aurelius  and  Commodus. 

M.  Waddington  asserts  that  Quadratus  was  Proconsul  in  the  year 
after  Severus,  who  was  the  successor  of  Pollio  (p.  529). 

This  opinion  rests  on  an  ambiguous  phrase  of  Aristides  (p.  523,  ed. 
Dind. ),  6  2e^f/pos  ttjs 'Acrms  ^p|ei/,  oI/jlui,  iviaurw  -n-pdrepoj/  tov  rjiuLerepov 
eraipov  ;  but  "  quis  iste  fuerit,  vaticinari  non  datur,"  says  Masson, 
p.  cxxxi.  There  seems  also  to  be  a  difficulty  in  placing  with  M. 
Waddington  the  Proconsulate  of  Quadratus  after  that  of  Severus,  who 
succeeded  Pollio.  For  (as  we  have  seen)  Aristides  succeeded  in  obtain- 
ing from  Pollio  an  areXeia,  or  exemption  from  public  office  ;  and  this 
areAem  was  made  absolute,  under  Severus  his  successor,  by  an  imperial 
rescript. 

But  under  Quadratus  Aristides  was  elected  to  an  onerous  public  office, 
*'  the  public  priesthood  of  Asia  "  (6  o-o^io-ri) s— Quadratus — ov  fiiKp^ 
Trp6ae€p  ijxvi](Ter]v,  ^px^",  P-  530'  ^^d  to  him  he  goes  back  in  his  nar- 
rative in  a  retrograde  course  as  by  a  ladder  upward  to  Pollio  [ibid.); 
but  he  did  not  then  plead  that  he  had  any  areXeja,  which  he  pro- 
bably would  have  done  //this  event  had  been  after  the  time  of  Severus  ; 
but  he  prayed  the  people  to  excuse  him,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
reheved  from  so  burdensome  and  expensive  an  office  (cp.  Masson, 
p.  xcvi). 

These  X^-^oi  of  Aristides  were  written  many  years  after  the  events  to 
which  they  refer  (see  1.  465,  500,  505).  But  he  could  hardly  have 
spoken  so  loosely  as  he  does,  "  I  think  that  Severas  was  the  predecessor 
of  our  friend,"  if  our  friend  "  had  been  Quadratus  the  Sophist,  of  whom 
he  has  a  lively  recollection.  In  those  royal  letters  Vei-us  ■\\as  not 
included,  because  he  was  not  in  Italy ;  perhaps  they  were  issued  soon 
after  his  death  (a.d.  169). 

Aristides  says  that  these  royal  letters  "came  to  him/;w//  Italy,''''  and 
Marcus  Aurelius  was  there  at  that  time,  and  he  there  celebrated  the 
funeral  obsequies  of  Verus,  who  was  buried  by  him  in  the  Mausoleum 
of  Hadrian.  Aristides  also  says  that  Severus  was  Proconsul  of  Asia 
soon  after  the  great  plague  which  raged  throughout  that  and  other 
countries. 

Severus  was  Pronconsul  in  the  year  after  Pollio ;  and  there  was  a  great 
M    2 


164  S.  POL  YCARF  'S  iMA  R  TYRD  OM. 

and  more  fully  in  the  Ancient  Acts,  published  by  Arch- 
bishop Ussher  (Lond.  1647).     S.  Irenaeus  had  a  copy 

pestilence  in  Italy  in  167,  which  raged  for  some  years  (see  Clinton,  Fast. 
Rom.  A.D.  167),  Perhaps  it  may  have  appeared  sooner  at  Smyrna, 
and  may  have  led  to  the  persecution  there  in  which  Polycarp  suffered. 

Besides,  the  Martyrdom  of  Polycarp  does  not  seem  to  be  in  harmony 
with  the  times  of  Antoninus  Pius,  but  agrees  very  well  with  those  of 
Marcus  Aurelius. 

Polycarp's  Martyrdom  was  not  in  consequence  of  a  popular  outbreak, 
but  was  accompanied  with  all  the  forms  of  a  regular  judicial  process  (see 
Acta  Martyrii)  before  the  Proconsul. 

Tertullian  asserts  that  Antonmtis  Phis  gave  no  countenance  to  the 
putting  in  force  of  laws  against  the  Christians  (Apol.  5),  And  Melito, 
Bishop  of  Sardis,  says  in  his  Apology  for  the  Christians  to  Marcus 
Aurelius  (Euseb.  H.  E.  iv.  26)  that  Antoninus  Pius  put  forth  letters  to 
"the  cities,"  and  "all  the  Greeks,"  in  order  ^o prohibit  persecution  of 
the  Christians.  He  also  remonstrates  with  Marcus  Aurelius  for 
issuing  '•^  new  decrees,^''  such  as  "had  not  been  known  before,"  in 
consequence  of  which  ''the  race  of  God-fearing  men  is  now  suffering 
persecution  throughout  Asia^ 

It  is,  I  think,  hardly  possible  that  Melito  at  Sardis  should  have  written 
thus  to  Aurelius,  if  Polycarp  had  recently  suffered  martyrdom  under 
Antoninus,  a.d.  155,  in  the  manner  that  he  did  at  Smyrna,  a  fact  which 
must  have  been  well  known  to  Melito  ;  but  that  statement  is  quite  in 
harmony  with  such  an  event,  if  the  martyrdom  took  place  in  the  times 
of  Marcus  Aurelius. 

The  pestilence  which  was  brought  from  Babylonia  in  Parthia  by  the 
army  of  Verus,  who  marched  through  Syria  to  Rome,  and  which  was 
one  of  the  most  terrible  that  ever  raged  in  the  Roman  Empire,  may  have 
stimulated  the  popular  fury  against  the  Christians,  and  have  led  to  such 
persecutions  as  that  under  which  Polycarp  suffered. 

I  acknowledge  that  much  is  to  be  said  for  M.  Waddington's  assertion. 
I  do  not  venture  to  pronounce  a  confident  opinion  on  this  difficult  ques-. 
tion  ;  but  on  the  whole  I  do  not  feel  justified  in  abandoning  the  opinion 
hitherto  received,  that  S.  Polycarp  suffered  in  a  persecution  under  the 
Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  on  Saturday,  Feb.  23,— and  perhaps  in 
A.D.  166. 

For  further  evidence  to  this  effect  see  the  notes  of  Harles  in  his  edition 
of  Fabricius,  Bibl.  Gr.  vii.  pp.  13—15  (the  life  of  Aristides),  and 
Clinton,  Fasti  Romani  from  A.D.  163  to  A.D.  169. 

In  the  'CipoXo-^iov  /xeya  of  the  Greek  Church  (p.  265,  ed.  Venet.  1868) 
it  is  stated  that  Polycarp  suffered  on  Feb.  23rd,  in  the  reign  of  Marcus 
Aurelius,  A.D.  166,  and  in  the  95th  year  of  his  age.  In  a.d.  166,  Feb.  23 
fell  on  a  a-dfifiaTov,  Saturday  (Masson  de  Aristid.  Vita,  p.  Ixxxix). 


S.  POL  YCARP  IN  PR  A  YER.  165 

of  this  letter  (see  Martyr.  Pole.  22),  another  evidence 
of  its  antiquity. 

In  that  Epistle  the  breaking  out  of  that  Persecution 
is  ascribed  to  the  Evil  One,  but  it  was  overruled  for 
God's  glory.  "  The  Enemy  began  with  a  young  man, 
Germanicus,  who  was  cast  to  a  wild  beast.  The  peo- 
ple, seeing  his  courage,  cried  out,  'Away  with 
the  Atheists  !  Search  for  Polycarp  ! '  A  Phrygian 
Christian,  called  Ouartus,  came  forward  to  be  mar- 
tyred ;  but  when  he  saw  the  wild  beasts,  he  trembled 
and  denied  the  faith.  A  warning,"  says  the  Epistle, 
"that  none  should  rush  into  temptation. 

"Polycarp  retired  into  the  country,  and  there 
prayed.  He  had  a  vision,  in  which  he  saw  his  own 
pillow  consumed  with  fire.  '  I  must  be  burnt  alive,' 
said  he  to  his  friends.  He  then  retired  to  another 
farm-house,  to  which  his  pursuers  tracked  him,  having 
had  notice  of  his  abode  from  a  boy,  whom  they  tor- 
tured. The  Irenarch  (the  Chief  Constable)  of  Smyrna, 
whose  name  was  Herod,  was  eager  to  have  him 
conveyed  to  the  race-course. 

"  On  Friday,  at  dinner-time,  the  pursuers  came  forth, 
and  found  him  in  the  evening  reposing  in  an  upper 
chamber.  He  might  have  escaped,  but  he  said, 
'  God's  will  be  done.'  Having  heard  of  their  coming, 
he  went  down  stairs,  and  talked  with  them,  and  told 
the  servant  to  set  meat  and  drink  before  them,  and 
asked  them  to  give  him  some  time  for  prayer.  They 
were  much  struck  by  his  venerable  aspect  and  calm- 
ness, and  allowed  him  to  continue  in  prayer  for  two 
hours.  He  made  intercession  for  all  his  friends,  great 
and  small,  rich  and  poor,  and  for  the  Catholic  Church 
throughout  the  world.  When  the  hour  was  come  for 
his  departure,  he  was  placed  on  an  ass,  and  was  con- 


166  S.  POLYCARP  BEFORE  THE  PROCONSUL. 

veyed  to  the  city,  it  being  a  great  Sabbath  (c.  8). 
The  Irenarch  Herod,  and  Nicetes  the  father  of 
Herod,  met  him  in  a  carriage,  in  which  they  placed 
him  ;  and  as  they  sat  by  his  side,  they  said  to  him, 
'What  harm  is  there  in  saying,  ''  Lord,  Caesar !  "  and 
in  sacrificing,  and  in  doing  the  other  things,  and  thus 
getting  off  free  ? ' 

"  At  first  he  made  no  answer ;  but  when  they  made 
a  pause,  he  said,  '  I  am  not  going  to  do  what  you  bid 
me/  At  which  they  scolded  him,  and  hastily  took 
him  down  from  the  carriage,  so  that  he  bruised  his 
shin  ;  but  he  took  no  note  of  it,  and,  as  if  nothing  had 
happened,  went  on  cheerfully  to  the  race-course. 

"  There  was  a  great  shouting  when  he  arrived,  and 
a  voice  was  heard,  '  Polycarp,  play  the  man.'  None 
of  us  saw  the  person  who  uttered  it,  but  we  heard  it. 
The  Proconsul  said,  '  Art  thou  Polycarp  ? '  'I  am.' 
'  Then  have  pity  on  thine  old  age.  Swear  by  the  for- 
tune of  Caesar,  and  say,  "  Away  with  the  Atheists."  ' 
Polycarp  looked  sternly  around  him,  and  beckoning 
with  his  hand,  and  groaning  and  looking  up  to  heaven, 
said,  *  Yes,  av/ay  with  the  Atheists.'  When  the  Pro- 
consul urged  him,  '  Swear,  and  I  will  let  you  go: 
Revile  Christ ;'  '  I  have  served  Him  (said  he)  for  four- 
score and  six  years,^  and  He  never  did  me  any  harm. 
How  then  can  I  blaspheme  my  King  and  my 
Saviour  t '  When  the  Proconsul  pressed  him  again, 
*  Swear  by  the  fortune  of  Caesar,'  he  said,  '  If  you 
imagine  that  I  will  swear  by  the  fortune  of  Caesar,  and 


1  Probably  from  the  time  of  baptism,  not  from  that  of  his  birth.  He 
had  been  placed  in  the  see  of  Smyrna  by  St.  John,  but  may  have  been 
not  more  than  thirty  years  old  then,  as  Athanasius  was  when  made 
Bishop  of  Alexandria.  The  tone  of  the  Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  Polycarp, 
A.D.  115,  is  that  of  a  person  Avriting  to  "x  young  man  (c.  i.  3). 


S.  POLYCARP'S  ANSWER  TO  THE  PROCONSUL.      1G7 

if  you  profess  not  to  know  who  I  am,  hear  now  what 
I  say  plainly  to  you.  I  am  a  Christian  ;  and  if  you 
wish  for  an  account  of  Christianity,  appoint  me  a  day, 
and  give  nie  a  hearing.'  The  Proconsul  replied, 
'  Persuade  the  people.'  Polycarp  answered,  *  I  deem 
you  worthy  of  an  account  from  me,  for  we  have  been 
taught  to  pay  honour  and  what  is  due — so  far  as  is  not 
harmful — to  Rulers  and  authorities  ordained  of  God  ; 
but  I  do  not  count  them  worthy  that  I  should  make 
my  vindication  to  them.' 

'•The  Proconsul  said,  '  Here  are  wild  beasts,  and  I 
will  cast  you  to  them  unless  you  repent.'  *  Be  it  so  ; 
summon  them  ;  for  repentance  from  better  to  worse 
is  not  conversion  ;  but  it  is  good  to  be  converted  from 
evil  to  what  is  right'  '  I  will  have  you  consumed  by 
fire,  if  you  despise  the  wild  beasts.'  '  You  threaten 
me,'  he  replied,  '  with  fire  that  burns  for  a  little  while, 
and  then  goes  out  ;  for  you  do  not  know  that  there  is 
another  fire  of  the  Judgment  to  come,  and  of  Eternal 
punishment,  which  fire  is  reserved  for  the  wicked.' 

"  While  he  spake  these  and  other  words,  he  was 
filled  with  courage  and  joy,  and  his  countenance 
became  animated  and  full  of  grace,  so  that  the  Pro- 
consul wondered,  and  sent  the  herald  to  proclaim  the 
third  time  on  the  race-course  '  Polycarp  has  confessed 
himself  to  be  a  Christian.' 

"  On  this  all  the  multitude  of  Heathen  and  of  Jews 
shouted  out,  '  He  is  the  teacher  of  impiety,  the  father 
of  the  Christians,  the  destroyer  of  our  gods  ;  he  it  is 
who  teaches  many  not  to  sacrifice  and  worship  our 
gods.'  On  this  they  raised  a  great  shout,  and  asked 
the  Asiarch  ^  to  let  a  Hon  out  on  Polycarp.  But  he 
said  that  he  could  not,  as  he  had   now  finished  the 

2  President  of  the  Games.     Cp.  Acts  xix.  31. 


168  "  LE T  POL  YCARP  BE  BURNT:' 

beast-hunting.  Then  they  clamoured  with  one  voice, 
*  Let  Polycarp  be  burnt  aHve.'  On  which  they  rushed 
to  the  workshops  and  baths,  and  got  together  wood 
and  faggots  ;  the  Jews,  as  usual,  being  very  helpful  in 
this.  When  the  bonfire  was  ready,  Polycarp  laid 
aside  his  outer  garments,  and  unclasped  his  girdle, 
and  was  trying  to  un-shoe  himself,  a  thing  he  was  not 
wont  to  do,  because  the  faithful  were  wont  to  vie  with 
one  another,  who  should  first  help  him. 

"The  instruments  were  now  being  got  ready  for  the 
burning  ;  and  when  they  were  about  to  fasten  him 
with  nails  to  the  stake,  '  Let  me  alone  as  I  am,'  he 
said,  '  for  He  Who  granted  me  the  gift  to  endure  the 
fire,  will  give  me  grace  to  remain  firm  in  it  without 
the  surety  of  your  nails.'  Therefore  they  did  not 
rivet  him  with  nails,  but  tied  him.  And  he,  having 
his  hands  bound  behind  his  back,  looked  up  to  heaven 
and  said,  '  O  Lord  God  Almighty,  Father  of  Thy 
beloved  and  blessed  Son  Jesus  Christ,  through  Whom 
we  have  received  the  clear  knowledge  of  Thee  ;  O 
Thou  God  of  Angels  and  Powers,  and  of  all  creation, 
and  of  all  the  seed  of  the  righteous  who  live  in  Thy 
presence,  I  bless  Thee  that  Thou  hast  deemed  me 
worthy  of  this  day  and  of  this  hour,  and  to  have  part 
in  the  number  of  Thy  Martyrs,  and  in  the  Cup  (of 
suffering)  of  Thy  Christ,  for  the  resurrection  to  eternal 
life  both  of  soul  and  body,  in  the  incorruptibility  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  in  which  things  may  I  be  accepted 
before  Thee  this  day  in  a  well-favoured  and  accept- 
able sacrifice,  as  Thou  hast  prepared  and  pre-signified 
and  fulfilled.  Thou  unerring  and  true  God.  Wherefore 
above  all  things  I  praise  Thee,  I  bless  Thee,  I  glorify 
Thee,  together  with  the  eternal  and  heavenly  Christ 
Jesus,  Thy  well-beloved  Son,  with  Whom  be  glory  to 


MARTYRS  NOT  WORSHIPPED.  169 

Thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  now  and  for  evermore. 
Amen.' 

"  When  he  had  finished  his  prayer,  they  kindled  the 
pile,  and  the  fire  formed  a  sort  of  alcove,  like  a  sail 
of  a  ship  filled  with  wind,  and  made  a  wall  round  his 
body.  Then  his  flesh  being  burned  was  like  gold  or 
silver  in  the  furnace,  and  a  sweet  perfume  breathed 
forth  from  it,  as  of  frankincense  or  precious  aromatic 
spices ;  but  because  his  body  was  not  consumed, 
they  ordered  the  executioner  to  stab  him  with  a  short 
sword,  and  such  a  stream  of  blood  flowed  forth  about 
the  haft  ^  as  to  extinguish  the  fire. 

"  Nicetes,  the  father  of  Herod  and  brother  of  Alee, 
besought  the  Governor  that  Polycarp's  body  might 
not  be  given  up  for  burial,  ^  lest,'  said  he,  '  the  Chris- 
tians forsake  the  Crucified  and  begin  to  worship  him.'  * 
This  he  said  at  the  instigation  of  the  Jews,  who 
were  on  the  watch  when  we  were  trying  to  get  the 
body  from  the  pile  ;  and  they  did  not  know  that  we 
can  never  forsake  Christ,  Who  suffered  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  faithful  of  the  whole  world,  and  that  we 
cannot  ever  worship  any  other.  Him  we  adore ; 
but  we  duly  love  the  Martyrs  as  disciples  and  fol- 
lowers of  the  Lord,  on  account  of  their  surpassing 
love  to  their  King  and  Teacher,  and  we  pray  that 
we  also  may  be  partners  and  disciples  with  them. 

"  The  Centurion,  perceiving  our  contention  with  the 
Jews,  placed  the  body  in  the  midst  and  burnt  it. 
Whereupon  we  took  up  his  bones,  more  precious  than 

3  As  to  the  true  reading  here  of  the  Greek  Text,  may  I  refer  to 
Appendix  C.  in  my  work  upon  S.  Hippolytus,  p.  317,  2nd  ed.  ?  The 
conjecture  there  proposed,  7rep2  arvpaKa,  has  been  approved  and  received 
by  La  garde  and  Zahn. 

<  Even  the  heathen  knew  that  Christ  was  adored  as  God  by  Christians. 
See  above,  pp.  92,  93. 


170  S.  POLYCARP'S  BIRTHDAY. 

costly  gems,  and  more  refined  with  fire  than  gold,  and 
we  laid  them  up  in  a  seemly  place,  where  the  Lord 
will  grant  us  to  assemble  together  in  gladness  and  joy, 
and  to  celebrate  the  birthday  ^  of  his  Martyrdom,  for 
the  memory  of  those  who  fought  the  fight  of  faith, 
and  for  the  discipline  and  training  of  those  who  come 
after  them. 

"  The  Martyrdom  of  the  holy  Polycarp  was  on  the 
second  day  of  the  month  Xanthicus,  on  the  seventh 
day  before  the  Kalends  of  May,^  on  a  great  Sabbath/ 
at  the  eighth  hour.^  He  was  arrested  by  Herod,  in 
the  high-priesthood  of  Philip  of  Tralles,  in  the  pro- 
consulate of  Statins  QiLadratus^  in  the  everlasting 
reign  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  Whom  be  glory,  and  honour, 
and  majesty,  and  an  eternal  throne  from  generation 
to  generation.     Amen." 

In  reading  the  foregoing  narratives  of  the  Martyr- 
doms of  S.  Ignatius  and  S.  Polycarp,  we  have  seen 
that  the  fury  of  the  persecution  fell  mainly  on  them, 
and  that  others  were  unharmed  who  were  associated 
with  them.  The  Christians  who  flocked  to  do  honour 
to  Ignatius  in  the  various  cities  through  which  he 
pa'^sed  do  not  appear  to  have  been  molested.  The 
believers   who   came  forward  at  Smyrna  to   gather 

^  The  Martyrs'  death-days  were  their  birth-days,  i.  e,  to  eternal  life. 
Bingham,  XX.  vii.  2.  S,  Polycarp's  birthday  (by  martyrdom)  is  cele- 
brated by  the  Greek  Church  on  Feb.  23, 

*  The  true  reading  is  not  May,  but  March,  i.  e.  Feb.  23.  See  the 
preceding  note,  and  Ideler,  Handbuch  d.  Chronol.  i.  419;  Zahn's  edition 
of  Polycarp,  p.  164. 

7  '■'■A  great  Sabbath-'^  on  which  see  Bingham,  XIII.  i.  33.  What  this 
was,  is  uncertain.  It  could  not  have  been  Easter  Even ;  cp.  above,  c.  8. 
It  may  perhaps  have  been  a  Sabbath  in  the  feast  of  Purim. 

s  2  P.M. ;  or  it  may  perhaps  have  been  8  A.M.  ;  see  my  notes  on  John  i. 
40  ;  iv.  6,  52  ;  xi.;  xix.  14  :  but  this  seems  less  likely. 


PERSECUTION  IN  GA UL,  AT  L YONS  AND  171 

VIENNE. 

up  the  remains  of  Polycarp  do  not  seem  to  have  been 

ill-treated  by  the  heathen.     In  this  and  other  similar 

cases,  the  Bishops  of  the  Churches,  such   as  Ignatius 

and  Polycarp,  and  other  successors  of  the  Apostles, 

bore  the  brunt  of  the  battle.     The  office  of  Bishop 

exposed  him  who  held  it  to  the  rage  of  the  storm  of 

persecution  ;  and  this  well-established  fact  confirms 

the  argument  that  Episcopacy  was  not  a  thing  of  man's 

device,  but  a  divine  institution. 

The  next  persecution,  which  broke  out  in  the  seven- 
teenth year  of  Marcus  Aurehus,  A.D.  177, — three  years 
before  his  death,  and  at  a  time  when  there  was  a 
great  earthquake  at  Smyrna,  which  may  have  led 
to  the  persecution, — extended  itself  more  widely. 
Eusebius,  in  the  preface  to  the  fifth  book  of  his 
History,  asserts  that  it  was  stirred  up  by  popular 
passion  in  various  cities  at  once,  in  almost  all  parts  of 
the  Empire,  and  that  it  made  numerous  martyrs.  He 
inserts  by  way  of  specimen  a  narrative  of  what  took 
place  in  the  province  of  Gaul,  at  Lyons  and  Vienne.^ 

That  narrative,  preserved  by  Eusebius  (Euseb.  v.  i), 
was  drawn  up,  like  the  record  of  the  Martyrdom  of  S. 
Polycarp,  by  the  Church  of  the  cities  in  which  the  events 

^  This  persecution,  unchecked  by  Marcus  Aurehus,  appears  to 
contravene  the  assertion  of  some  writers  that  he  attributed  to  the  prayers 
of  his  Christian  soldiers  the  seasonable  supply  of  rain  by  which  his  army 
was  refreshed  in  his  German  campaign,  and  a  great  victory  was  gained, 
A.  D.  1 74  ;  and  that  in  consequence  he  issued  an  edict,  making  it  a 
capital  offence  to  accuse  them  (Euseb.  v,  5.  See  the  notes  of  Valesius, 
and  Heinichen,  p.  196,  there).  The  statements  of  heathens,  such  as 
Capitolinus  and  Claudian,  and  the  Aurelian  column  still  standing  at 
Rome,  render  that  statement  still  more  doubtful.  It  is  not,  however, 
necessary  to  deny  that  there  were  Christians  in  his  army  ;  and  if  there 
were,  no  doubt  when  they  and  their  comrades  were  exhausted  by  thirst, 
they  prayed  to  God  for  rain. 


172         PERSECUTION  IN  GAUL  UNDER  MARCUS 
A  URELIUS. 

occurred  ;   and  it  has  been  thought  with  good  reason 

to  have  been  composed  by  Irenaeus  (Tillemont,  iii.  2), 

the  scholar  of  Polycarp/  then  a  presbyter  of  Lyons,  and 

afterwards  the  successor  of  Pothinus  in  that  See,  and 

the  author  of  the  well-known  work  against  the  heresies 

— especially  the  Gnostic  heresies — of  that  time.     It 

was  sent  in  the  first  instance  to  the  Churches  of  Asia 

and  Phrygia,  but  doubtless  was  generally  circulated. 

This  Epistle  begins  with  ascribing  the  Persecution 
to  the  instigation  of  the  Evil  One.  It  states  that  the 
Christians  in  those  cities  of  Gaul  were  treated  as 
outlaws,  cut  off  from  society  and  intercourse  with 
others,  in  baths,  in  private  houses,  and  in  shops.  They 
were  left  to  the  mercy  of  the  multitude,  and  were 
hooted  at  in  the  streets,  pelted  with  stones,  spoiled  of 
their  goods,  and  tortured ;  and  if  they  confessed 
themselves  Christians,  they  were  cast  into  prison  by 
the  soldiery,  to  remain  there  till  the  arrival  of  the 
Governor. 

The  Epistle  goes  on  to  describe  the  courage  and 
ability  of  a  leading  man  among  them,  Vettius 
Epagathus,  who  boldly  came  forward  to  plead  their 
cause,  and  died  a  Martyr's  death.  He  was  followed 
by  others.  Some,  however,  were  alarmed,  and  fell 
away  through  fear.  Heathen  slaves  of  the  Christians 
falsely  deposed  that  they  were  guilty  of  the  crimes 
laid  to  their  charge, — "  Thyestean  banquets  and  GEdi- 

^  It  is  observable,  that,  though  written  in  the  name  of  two  Churches 
in  France,  Lyons  and  Vienne,  it  is  not  in  Latin,  but  in  Greek.  This 
may  be  explained  from  the  fact  that  it  is  addressed  to  Churches  of  Asia, 
whose  language  was  Greek.  But  the  Church  of  Lyons  wrote  also  to 
Eleutherus,  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  in  Greek  (Euseb.  v.  4);  and  S.  Irenaeus, 
Bishop  of  Lyons,  wrote  his  great  work  in  Greek.  The  Autun  Inscrip- 
tion (published  by  Cardinal  Pitra),  about  the  same  date,  is  Greek.  In 
a  word,  the  Gallic  Churches  appear  to  have  been  colonies  of  Asia. 


SANCTUS  AND  BLANDINA.  173 

podean  incest," — "such  as  it  is  not  lawful  for  us  (^ays 
the  Epistle)  to  speak  of,  nor  think  of,  nor  to  believe 
to  be  possible  to  be  done."  Then  was  fulfilled  the 
Lord's  saying,  "  Whosoever  killeth  you  will  think  that 
he  doeth  God  service"  (John  xvi.  2). 

A  Deacon  of  Vienne,  Sanctus  by  name,  and 
Maturus,  lately  baptized ;  Attalus,  a  confessor  of 
Pergamos  ;  and,  above  all,  a  holy  woman,  Blandina, 
feeble  and  tender  in  body,  and  of  humble  condition, 
being  a  slave, — for  whom  her  Christian  mistress  was 
alarmed  lest  she  should  not  be  able  to  confess  the 
faith, — were  conspicuous  in  their  sufferings,  in  order, 
says  the  Epistle,  that  it  might  be  seen  that  God  has 
chosen  the  weak  and  despised  things  of  this  world 
(i  Cor.  i.  27)  to  confound  the  strong. 

Blandina  was  tortured  for  a  long  time,  so  that  her 
torturers  were  exhausted  ;  her  body  was  racked, 
lacerated,  and  mangled  ;  but  she  received  fresh 
strength  from  her  confession  of  Christ,  which  was  in 
few  words, — "  I  am  a  Christian  ;  and  with  us  no 
wickedness  is  done." 

Sanctus  also  endured  fierce  torments,  and  in 
answer  to  all  questions  made  one  reply,  "  I  am  a 
Christian."  His  persecutors,  being  exasperated  by 
his  refusal  to  answer,  applied  red-hot  plates  to  the 
tenderest  parts  of  his  body,  which  were  scorched  by 
them  ;  but  he  remained  inflexible,  being  refreshed 
by  streams  of  living  water  from  Christ.  His  body  was 
torn  and  distorted  by  the  rack,  and  seemed  to  have 
lost  the  form  of  a  man  ;  but  he  was  enabled  to  van- 
quish pain,  and  to  show  that  there  is  no  terror  where 
the  love  of  God  is,  and  the  glory  of  Christ.  Indeed, 
when  he  had  been  reserved  for  some  days  for  other 
torments,  his  persecutors,  who  thought  that  he  must 


174        BIB  LIAS.     POTHINUS,  BISHOP  OF  LYONS. 

needs  die  under  those  renewed  sufferings,  were  as- 
tonished to  see  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  was  restored 
to  his  former  upright  shape. 

BibHas,  who  had  renounced  Christ,  was  brought 
forth  by  the  heathen  in  order  that  she  might  blas- 
pheme Him  ;  but  she  was  restored  by  her  torments, 
which  made  her  think  of  the  pains  of  hell  reserved  for 
the  ungodly,  and  she  died  a  martyr  to  the  faith. 

Other  less  public  forms  of  punishment  were  devised 
by  the  Enemy.  Christians  were  cast  into  dark  and 
noisome  prisons  ;  their  feet,  arms,  and  neck  were  made 
fast  and  strained  in  the  stocks,  and  many  died 
there. 

The  venerable  Bishop  of  Lyons,  Pothinus,^  more 
than  fourscore  and  ten  years  old,  was  arrested,  and 
carried  by  soldiers,  amid  shouts  of  the  populace,  to  the 
tribunal  of  the  Governor ;  and  being  asked  by  him 
"  Who  is  the  God  of  the  Christians  .? "  he  replied,  "  If 
thou  art  worthy,  thou  shalt  know."  He  was  then 
dragged  down  and  trampled  on,  and  beaten  and  cast 
into  prison,  where  after  two  days  he  died. 

Some  who  have  been  already  mentioned, — Sanctus, 
Maturus,  Attains,  and  Blandina, — were  brought  forth 
again  to  a  fresh  trial  at  the  public  shows, — celebrated, 
it  seems,  in  the  month  of  August, — in  the  Amphi- 
theatre, in  order  to  be  cast  to  wild  beasts.  Sanctus 
and  Maturus  were  mangled,  but  survived  ;  and  were 
then  placed  on  an  iron  chair  to  be  scorched  alive  by 
fire,  and  at  length  died. 

Blandina  was  suspended  on  a  stake  to  be  devoured 
by  the  wild  beasts  ;  and  then  like  one  crucified  she 
prayed  and  encouraged  the  other  martyrs,  who,  look- 
ing upon  her  raised  aloft,  seemed  to  have  a  sight  of  the 

2  Who  was  succeeded  by  S.  Irenceus  in  the  See  of  Lyons. 


BLAND  IN  A,  HER  BROTHER:  AND  ATTALUS.         175 

Crucified  One  Who  had  died  for  them  in  order  to 
teach  those  who  believe  in  Him  that  whoever  suffers 
for  His  glory  has  everlasting  communion  with  the 
living  God. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  Games,  Blandina  was  again 
brought  forth,  together  with  her  brother  Ponticus,  a 
lad  about  fifteen  years  old  ;  they  were  tortured,  and 
were  commanded  to  swear  by  the  gods,  which  they 
refused  to  do.  The  young  man,  being  encouraged  by 
his  sister,  suffered  valiantly,  and  at  last  died.  She 
was  scourged  and  exposed  again  to  the  wild  beasts, 
and  was  set  upon  the  iron  chair,  and  was  at  last  tied 
in  a  net  and  cast  to  a  wild  bull,  to  be  tossed  by  him 
in  the  air ;  but  having  firm  faith  and  hope,  and  con- 
tinuing earnestly  in  prayer  to  Christ,  she  seemed 
unconscious  of  pain,  and  at  last  was  despatched  with 
a  sword. 

On  a  previous  day  Attains  was  led  round  the 
Amphitheatre,  in  the  presence  of  a  crowd  of  spectators, 
with  a  placard  carried  before  him,  on  which  was 
written  in  Latin,  "  This  is  Attalus  the  Christian." 

The  Governor,  having  heard  that  he  was  a  Roman, 
ordered  him  back  to  prison,  and  wrote  to  the 
Emperor  to  inquire  what  was  to  be  done  with  him. 
The  interval  between  the  question  and  the  reply  was 
spent  by  Attalus  in  prayer,  which  was  blessed  to  him 
and  to  others,  even  to  some  who  had  lapsed,  and  they 
were  restored  to  the  Church.  The  Emperor  signified 
in  his  rescript  that  they  who  confessed  themselves 
Christians  should  be  beaten  on  the  rack,'  and  that 
those  who  recanted  should  be  discharged.  The 
Governor,  therefore,  brought  the  Confessors  forth 
before  the  people  in  the  Amphitheatre,  and  ordered 

3  As  to  the  word  in  the  original  see  on  Heb.  xi.  35,  irv/xirauiirerjaay. 


176        MARTYRS  BURNT,  AND  ASHES  CAST  INTO 
THE  RHONE. 

those  among  them  who  were  Roman  citizens  to  be 
beheaded,  and  the  rest  to  be  cast  to  the  wild  beasts. 

By  this  pubHc  confession  of  Christians  greater  glory 
redounded  to  Christ. 

Alexander,  a  Phrygian,  who  had  encouraged  the 
sufferers,  and  Attains  before  mentioned,  were  brought 
together  on  the  next  day  into  the  Amphitheatre,  and 
were  tortured  there.  Alexander  prayed  to  God  and 
praised  Him.  Attalus  was  placed  on  the  iron  chair, 
and,  when  he  was  there  scorched  by  the  fire,  said, "  You 
thus  devour  men  ;  we  do  not  devour  men  ;  nor  do  we 
anything  that  is  evil."  Both  were  at  last  stabbed  with 
a  sword. 

After  the  martyrdom  of  Blandina,  the  corpses  of 
those  who  had  died  in  the  prisons,  or  were  not  con- 
sumed by  wild  beasts,  were  left  for  a  time  unburied  ; 
and  we  could  not  prevail  on  the  heathen  to  allow  us 
to  commit  them  to  the  grave.  They  guarded  their 
remains  with  soldiers,  and  exulted  over  them,  and 
praised  their  gods,  and  ascribed  the  sufferings  of  the 
martyrs  to  their  power.  After  six  days  they  burnt 
them,  and  reduced  them  to  ashes ;  as  if  they 
were  able  to  conquer  God,  and  to  deprive  them  of  a 
resurrection  from  the  dead.  In  order  that  they  might 
have  no  hope  of  resurrection,  in  the  faith  of  which 
they  had  introduced  a  new  and  strange  religion, — for 
which  they  had  cheerfully  suffered  torture  and  death, 
— they  scattered  their  ashes  into  the  river  Rhone, 
which  flows  near  the  city,  and  they  said,  "  Now  let  us 
see  whether  they  will  rise  again  ;  and  whether  their 
God  is  able  to  deliver  them  out  of  our  hands." 

"  Out  of  weakness  they  were  made  strong "  (Heb. 
xi.  34).  This  was  very  applicable  to  the  tender 
women  and  others  of  Lyons  and  Vienne,  who,  as  we 


SS.  PERPETUA  AND  FELICITAS.  177 

have  seen,  were  enabled  by  God's  grace  to  endure 
cheerfully  cruel  tortures  ;  and  it  was  verified  in  Africa 
in  a  marvellous  manner  about  thirty  years  afterwards 
m  the  persecution  which  broke  out  there  under  the 
Emperor  Septimius  Severus,  A.D.  202,  and  which  may 
here  find  an  appropriate  notice  in  connexion  with  that 
which  has  just  been  described. 

In  the  -  Acts  of  the  Martyrs  "  (published  by  the 
learned  Benedictine,  Ruinart)  the  sufferings  of  weak 
women,   especially  Perpetua,   are  fully  and  minutely 
chronicled/     She  was  a  young  and  noble  Christian 
lad)^,  aged  twenty-two,  recently  a  catechumen,  and 
had  been  left  a  widow,  with  an  infant  at  the  breast 
She  was  baptized,  and  in  her  baptism  she  fervently 
prayed  for  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  endure  suf- 
fering, and  this  was  abundantly  given  her.     She  was 
cast  into  a  dark  and  suffocating  prison,  where  many 
others  were  confined  ;  but  having  her  infant  with  her, 
she  said,  "  The  prison  is  to  me  a  palace."     She  was 
there  visited  by  her  father,  who  implored  her  to  have 
pity  upon  him,  her  child,  and  herself,  and  to  save  her 
life.     Some  visions  are  described  in  the  Acts  as  having 
been  seen  by  her,  and  giving  her  comfort  ;  in  one  she 
was  prompted  to  pray  for  her  young  brother  Dino- 
crates,  who  had  died  without  being  baptized.     With 
her  was  associated  another  young  woman,  Felicitas  a 
slave  who  was  near  childbirth.     Three  days  before  the 
day  appointed  for  her  martyrdom  she  gave  birth  to  a 
child.     When  this  female  Christian  slave  was  in  the 
throes  of  childbirth,  and  cried  out  in  her  pangs  some 
who  were  near  her  said,  -  If  you  cry  out  now  so  loud 
for  pain,  what  will  you  when  you  are  tortured  in  the 
Amphitheatre  >  "     "  Oh,'^  said  she,  -  there  will  be  a 

4  Pp.  90—119,  ed.  2,  Amst.  713. 


178     MARTYRDOM  OF  PERPETUA  AND  FELICITAS. 

great  difference  then.  It  is  now /that  suffer  pain, 
but  then  it  will  be  Christ  Who  will  suffer  in  me  and 
for  me,  because  I  suffer  for  Him." 

She  gave  birth  to  a  little  girl,  whom  a  Christian 
woman  adopted  and  brought  up  as  a  daughter. 

These  women,  with  other  martyrs,  were  brought 
forth  to  the  Amphitheatre.  The  women  were  given  up 
to  be  tossed  by  a  wild  cow.  Perpetua  seemed  to  be 
as  in  a  trance^  unconscious  of  pain,  and  she  asked,  as 
if  waking  from  a  dream,  "When  shall  we  be  brought 
out  to  be  tortured  1 "  The  words  of  Felicitas  came 
true.  Christ  enabled  her  to  suffer  with  joy.  The 
martyrs,  companions  in  death,  and  inheritors  of  hfe 
through  death,  bade  farewell  to  each  other  with  a  kiss 
of  peace,  and,  after  enduring  many  tortures,  were 
despatched  with  the  sword. 

Their  names  were  celebrated  by  the  Church  ^  on  the 
7th  of  March,  on  which  day  S.  Augustine  and  other 
holy  men  of  old  preached  sermons  in  their  memory, 
which  is  still  preserved  in  the  English  Calendar. 

"  See  S.  Augustine's  three  Sermons,  Serm.  280,  281,  282,  on  that 
Festival,  and  on  Ps.  47, 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The    Rise    and    Gj^owtk  of   Heresies — Gnosticism- 
General  Characteristics. 

After  the  death  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  the  succes- 
sion of  his  son  Commodus,  on  March  17th,  A.D.  180, 
there  was  a  lull  in  the  storm  of  Persecution.  In  this 
respect  the  reign  of  the  profligate  son  was  more 
favourable  to  the  Church  than  that  of  the  philosophic 
father.  But  a  more  dangerous  enemy  arose  and 
assailed  her ; — an  enemy  from  within — Heresy. 

It  had  been  revealed  by  Christ  to  St.  John  in  the 
Apocalypse  that  such  would  be  her  destiny.  The 
ancient  Expositors  of  that  Prophecy  have  interpreted 
it  in  that  sense.'  They  all  recognized  Christ  in  the 
First  Seal  (Rev.  vi.  2)  going  forth  "conquering  and 
to  conquer."  They  all  recognized  the  Enemy  of 
Christ  in  the  following  Seals  ;  first,  as  a  Persecutor, 
riding  on  a  horse  red  as  fire,  and  wielding  a  great 
sword.  They  recognized  him  next  riding  on  a  black 
horse,  as  the  Author  of  Heresy ^^  and  as  such  display- 

1  As  is  shown  in  the  authorities  given  in  my  notes  on  the  Book  of 
Revelation,  chap.  vi. 

2  I  do  not  mean  that  Persecution,  as  a  whole,  was  followed  by  Heresy 
as  a  whole.  No  ;  but  as  there  was  a  succession  of  Persecutions  in  the 
C\im(^ixQ\\\  without,  so  there  was  a  succession,  alternating  with  it,  of 
Heresies  from  within.  Thus  St.  Peter  the  Martyr  is  connected  with 
Simon  Magus  the  Heretic  ;  St.  John  the  Divine  with  Cerinthus  the 

N   2 


180        HERESY  REFUTED  BY  ST.  JOHN  AND  HIS 
SCHOLARS. 

ing  a  semblance  of  equity  and  fairness,  with  a  balance 

in  his  hand  (Rev.  vi.  5);  that  is,  weighing  the  super- 

naturally  revealed  doctrines  of  the  Christian  Faith  in 

the  scales  of  human  Reason.     But  the  heavenly  Voice 

is  heard,  revealing  his  true  character  and  intent,  and 

declaring  that    under    his    influence    the  wholesome 

wheat  of  sound  Doctrine  would  be  rare  and  dear,  and 

the  coarser  barley  of  Heresy  would  be  plentiful  and 

cheap,^  and  forbidding  him  to  do  what  he  desires  to 

do,  namely,  to  injure  the  means  of  spiritual  grace  in 

the  Word  and  Sacraments  of  Christ. 

It  is  observable  that  St  John  himself  (to  whom  the 
prophecy  was  revealed),  and  his  Scholars  and  succes- 
sors, were  specially  employed  by  God  in  repelling  the 
attacks  of  this  form  of  hostility  to  the  Church.  The 
Heresies  which  denied  the  Godhead  and  Manhood  of 
Christ  were  refuted  by  the  holy  Evangelist  himself  in 
his  Gospel  and  Epistles  ;  and  by  his  Scholar  S. 
Ignatius  in  his  letters,  and  by  S.  Polycarp. 

The  Gnostics  met  with  their  most  formidable 
antagonist  in  the  scholar  of  S.  Polycarp,  S.  Irenaeus, 
Bishop  of  Lyons,  who  succeeded  Pothinus,  the  Epis- 
copal Martyr  of  that  City,  in  A.D.  177,  and  composed 
his  work  against  heresies  between  A.D.  182  and  188  ; 
and  also  in  the  pupil  of  S.  Irenaeus,  S.  Hippolytus, 
Bishop  of  Portus,  the  harbour  of  Rome,  who  wrote  his 
"Refutation  of  all  Heresies"  after  the  death  of  Cal- 
listus,  Bishop  of  Rome,  which  took  place  probably  in 
A.D.  223. 

Let  us  note  the  words,  Heresy,  and  Gnosis,  whence 
Gnostics  and  Gnosticism  derive  their  names. 

Heretic  ;  S.  Polycarp,  the  Apostolic  Bishop  and  Martyr,  with  Marcion 
the  Heretic, 

3  See  notes  on  Rev.  vi,  6, 


HERESY  AND  GNOSIS.  181 

Heresy — that  is,  Choice — represents  in  theology  the 
act  of  the  human  will,  choosing  for  itself  something 
independently  of  the  divine  tradition  {irapaSoai^)  of 
supernatural  truth  to  be  received  by  man,  and  to  be 
kept  by  him  as  the  means  of  his  Eternal  Salvation. 

St.  John  says  (i  John  ii.  24),  ''  Let  that  abide  in  you 
which  ye  have  heard  from  the  beginning.  If  that 
which  ye  have  heard  from  the  beginning  abide  in  yon, 
ye  also  shall  continue  in  the  Son  and  in  the  Father." 
And  St.  Jude  says  {v.  3),  "  Beloved,  when  I  gave  all 
diligence  to  write  unto  you  of  the  common  Salvation, 
it  was  needful  for  me  to  write  unto  you  and  exhort 
you  that  y€  should  earnestly  contend  for  the  faith 
once  for  all  iaira^)  delivered  to  the  Saints!' 

Gnosis,  literally  knowledge,  or  the  faculty  of  know- 
ing, in  theology  is  the  act  of  the  human  mind  assum- 
ing for  itself  the  faculty  of  hioiving  by  its  own  intel- 
ligence— paramount  to  divine  revelation — supernatural 
truth ;  and  elevating  itself  by  its  own  speculations 
above  all  those  who  received  divine  truth  from  God  in 
the  Holy  Scripture,  by  faith.  In  a  word  ^vwai^,  as 
an  act  of  the  mind,  is  opposed  to  iriarL^  ;  as  alpeai^ 
is  opposed  to  faith,  as  an  act  of  the  zvill.  According 
to  the  Gnostics,  the  Christian  believer  was  a  mere 
yp-vx^Ko^  [animal),  their  own  votaries  were  irvevixaTiKoX 
(spiritical).  Their  vocation  was  not  to  believe,  but  to 
know. 

There  is  a  silent  reference  to  them  in  St.  Paul's 
Epistles  to  that  Church  which  boasted  most  of  its 
gnosis:  "I  was  determined  to  know  nothing  among 
you  '^  (who  vaunt  that  you  know  all  things)  "  but 
Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified  "  (i  Cor.  ii.  2  ;  cp. 
Phil.  iii.  8  ;  i  Tim.  vi.  20).  There  is  a  special  signi- 
ficance in  his   words  to  the  same   Church,  "  Gnosis 


182  TRUE  GNOSIS. 

puffeth  up,  but  Love  buildeth  up  "  (i  Cor.  viii.  i).  At 
the  same  time  the  Apostle  did  not  abandon  the  claim 
of  the  believer  to  the  possession  oi  true  gnosis.  No  ;  on 
the  contrary  he  says,  "  Howbeit  we  speak  wisdom 
among  them  that  are  perfect"  (i  Cor.  ii.  6).  In  his 
Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  St.  Paul  show^s  how  this 
self-idolizing  gnosis,  which  was  often  accompanied 
with  a  rigid  asceticism  and  a  spurious  spiritualism,  led 
not  only  to  intellectual  pride,  but  to  licentious  sen- 
sualism (Col.  ii.  8 — 23).  St.  James  writes  against  the 
dry,  lifeless,  miscalled  faith,  which  bore  no  fruits  of 
love  to  God  or  man  ;  and  St.  Peter  in  his  second 
Epistle  speaks  of  those  who  "bring  in  damnable 
heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them  " 
(2  Pet.  ii.  i);  and  he  and  St.  Jude  condemn  that  proud, 
presumptuous  gnosis,  which  vaunted  itself  as  all- 
sufficient,  and  rebelled  against  civil  and  spiritual 
authority,  and  gave  free  reins  to  carnal  indulgence 
(2  Pet.  ii.  10,  14,  18.    Jude  4,  8,  10,  16). 

It  was  the  main  purpose  of  such  teachers  as  Clement 
of  Alexandria  to  show  that  the  Christian  believer  was 
the  true  Gjwstic} 

The  appropriateness  of  the  Apocalyptic  symbolism 
in  the  Third  Seal  is  manifest.  The  Enemy  is  opposed 
to  Christ :  he  rides  on  a  horse  which  is  black,  against 
Him  Who  is  on  the  horse  that  is  white,  literally, 
white  as  light.  He  is  the  Author  of  darkness,  moral 
and  intellectual,  as  opposed  to  Him  Who  is  the  True 
Light,  illuminating  the  human  will  and  intelligence. 
He  weighs  all  things  in  his  own  balance.     He  makes 

^  In  this  respect  (as  lias  been  well  observed  by  Dean  Mansel  on  the 
Gnostic  heresies,  p.  11)  Gnosticism  anticipated  the  maxim  of  a  dis- 
tinguished modern  philosopher,  Fichte  (Werke,  v.  p.  48},  "Men  are 
saved  not  by  the  historical,  but  by  the  metaphysical." 


ORIGIN  OF  GNOSTICISM.  183 

himself  the  measure  of  divine  truth.  This  is  the 
Essence  of  Heresy  and  Gnosticism  ;  it  is  subjective, 
not  objective ;  it  places  human  speculation  above 
divine  revelation  ;  it  desires  to  hurt  the  corn  and  wine 
of  Divine  Grace  given  in  Scripture  and  Sacraments ; 
and  it  produces  "  a  famine  of  hearing  the  word  of  the 
Lord"  (Amos  viii.  ii),  a  famine  of  the  soul.  All 
heresies  were  not  Gnosticism,  but  all  Gnosticism  was 
heresy ;  and  with  Gnosticism  let  us  first  deal,  as 
having  its  origin  in  certain  previous  systems  of 
Philosophy. 

Taking  its  stand  on  the  principle  that  Gnosis  is 
paramount  to  Faith,  and  has  other  sources  of  intelli- 
gence than  Divine  Revelation,  it  could  have  no  fixed 
symbol  or  creed  such  as  the  Church  has  received  from 
Primitive  Tradition  ^  and  Holy  Scripture. 

It  ranged  over  the  wide  fields  of  Heathen  Meta- 
physics and  Theogonies — Greek,  Asiatic,  Persian, 
Indian.  It  was  conversant  with  Hebrew  and  Christian 
forms  of  belief.  It  soared  above  them  all  ;  and  with 
a  domineering  sway  of  all-absorbing  generalization, 
worthy  of  a  better  cause,  like  the  imperial  autocracy 
of  Rome,  it  endeavoured  to  subject  them  to  its  own 
sovereign  dominion. 

The  earliest  systems  of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor 
were  physical  rather  than  ethical.  Neither  Plato,  nor 
Aristotle,  nor  the  Stoics,  nor  Epicureans  busied  them- 
selves with  the  question  as  to  the  origin  of  evil.      The 

^  I  place  Primitive  Tradition  first,  because  (as  Richard  Baxter  has 
well  observed,  Introduction  to  Catholic  Theology,  1675)  there  was  the 
essence  oi  a  Creed 'va.  the  Baptismal  formula  prescribed  by  Christ  Himself 
before  His  Ascension,  "  Go  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the 
Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  "  (Matt, 
xxviii.  18,  19).  **  This  (says  Baxter)  is  the  sum  of  the  Creed,  first  made 
by  Christ  Himself." 


184        ORIGIN  AND  PRINCIPLES  OF  GNOSTICISM. 

Platonic  theory  of  an  impersonal,  unconditioned, 
eternal  Essence,  and  its  doctrine  of  ideas  existing  in 
the  divine  mind  as  types  of  things  to  be  created,  may 
have  suggested  some  conceptions  of  Gnosticism.  The 
Greek  poets,  such  as  Hesiod,  in  their  Theogonies,  did 
something  for  it,  by  familiarizing  the  popular  mind 
with  the  idea  of  theistic  developments. 

But  its  main  sources  were  in  the  philosophical 
systems  of  the  East.  The  Western  World  was  not 
favourable  to  its  growth. 

The  Oriental  Metaphysics  of  India,  Persia,  and 
Egypt  were  its  main  tributaries  ;  and  by  means  of 
them  it  proceeded  to  manipulate  the  doctrines  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament^  and  to  accommodate  them 
to  its  own  speculations. 

The  Oriental  System  of  Metaphysics  endeavoured 
to  account  for  the  existence  of  Evil,  either  by  the 
dtialistic  tJieory  of  two  independent,  antagonistic  prin- 
ciples, the  one  good,  the  other  evil,  and  which  were 
called  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman  by  the  Persians,  and 
Osiris  and  Typhon  by  the  Egyptians  ;  or  else  by  the 
theory  of  emanations  from  One  first  Cause. 

This  latter  theory  assumed  as  its  necessary  postu- 
late a  gradual  deterioration  by  successive  descents 
from  the  primitive  source  of  good.  In  the  former,  an 
hypothesis  of  emanations  is  a  consequence  of  pre- 
existent  evil ;  in  the  latter,  it  is  the  cause  of  the  exist- 
ence of  evil. 

All  Gnosticism  was  opposed  to  the  pure  Monotheism 
of  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  Faith.  All  agreed  in 
recognizing  an  eternity  in  Matter,  as  containing  the 
cause  of  evil  ;  all  agreed  in  regarding  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  as  coming  from  two  different  Beings  ; 
all  identified  the  Creator,  or  Demiurge,  with  the  God 


GNOSTIC  NOTIONS  OF  REDEMPTION  AND  OF     185 
MA  TTER. 

of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  as  inferior, — and  some  of 

them  as  antagonistic, — to  the  supreme  God,  the  God 

of  the  New. 

The  Gnostics  also  professed  themselves  wiser  than 
Moses  and  the  Prophets,  who  were  agents  of  the 
Demiurge,  and  who,  as  they  alleged,  had  been  called 
"  thieves  and  robbers  "  ^  by  Christ  Himself. 

They  treated  Christ  Himself  with  as  little  respect, 
calling  Him  indeed  a  Redeemer,  but  not  a  Redeemer 
from  the  power  and  ginlt  of  sin  (of  which  they  made 
little  or  no  account)  ;  but  a  Redeemer  from  the 
tyrajiny  of  the  Demiin'ge  or  Creator. 

All  of  them  asserted  the  inherent  evil  of  matter  and 
of  the  material  body,  and  therefore  rejected  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Incarnation,  some  of  them  asserting  (as 
the  Docetse)  that  our  Lord's  Body  was  a  mere  ideal 
visionary  phantom  ;  others  (as  Cerinthus)  that  the 
man  Jesus  was  a  distinct  Person  from  the  Christ. 
They  denied  the  Resurrection  of  the  body  ;  and  thus 
they  opened  the  door,  either  to  a  spurious  asceticism, 
condemning  marriage  and  the  use  of  meats  and 
drinks  (i  Tim.  iv.  3),  or  to  a  reckless  licentiousness, 
asserting  that  it  was  the  essential  characteristic  of  the 
Gnostic  to  know  empirically  all  forms  of  evil,  by  per- 
sonal familiarity  with  it,  and  to  abuse  the  body  by 
vicious  indulgence. 

None  of  them  would  have  joined  in  repeating  the 
first  words  of  the  Creed,  "  /  believe  in  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  in  Jesus 
Christ  His  only  Son  our  Lord.''  It  is  an  interesting 
study  for  the  Philosopher  and  the  Christian  to  examine 
the  attempts  by  which  the  Enemy  endeavoured  to 
deprive  the  Church  of  those  words  ;  and  also  to  trace 

c  John  X.  8.     See  Augustine,  quoted  in  my  note  there. 


186  GNOSTICISM  NOT  OBSOLETE. 

the  merciful  methods  and  providential  dispensations^ 
by  which  God  enabled  her  to  maintain  them. 

Gnosticism  is  not  obsolete.  The  problems  proposed 
by  it  are  now  presented  again  to  the  world.  Most 
modern  systems  of  Free  Thought  have  been  antici- 
pated by  it,  and  were  examined  and  refuted  by  ancient 
champions  of  Christianity.'' 

The  Gnostic  Systems  are  deserving  of  careful 
attention,  as  showing  to  what  monstrous  enormities 
and  wild  aberrations,  moral  and  social,  as  well  as 
spiritual,  the  hunian  mind  may  wander,— even  though 
it  has  Holy  Scripture  before  it,  and  Apostolic  Teachers 
preaching  in  its  ears, — if  it  relies  presumptuously  on 
its  own  powers,  and  denies  the  need  of  divine  Grace, 
and  despises  the  guidance  of  that  divine  Revelation 
which  is  contained  in  Holy  Scripture,  as  interpreted 
by  the  Ancient  Catholic  Church. 

7  This  has  been  well  shown  in  the  very  valuable  work,  already  referred 
to,  of  Dean  Mansel.  See  there  pp.  ii,  107,  147,  165;  and  especially 
the  seasonable  warnings  in  p.  78  against  those  in  our  own  day,  ' '  who 
tell  us  in  the  spirit  of  the  Gnostics  of  old,  that  dogmas  and  historical 
facts  are  no  parts  of  the  Christian  religion."  See  also  Canon  Westcott's 
"  Gospel  of  the  Resurrection"  on  the  value  of  the  historic  basis  of 
Christianity. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Schools  of  Gnosticism — Siino7i  Magics,  Menander, 
Cerint/ms,  Ebionites,  Carpocrates,  Epiphanes, 
Naassenes,  Ophites^  Cainites,  Sethites,  Peratce, 
Saturnimis^  Basilides. 

In  taking  a  chronological  view  of  Gnosticism,  we  trace 
a  gradual  series  of  concessions  on  the  part  of  the 
Enemy  ;  and  we  may  observe  the  Evil  One  driven 
from  one  stronghold  and  retreating  to  another,  which 
seemed  to  be  more  tenable. 

The  first  form  that  Gnosticism  assumed  was  that  of 
open  blasphemy  in  Sivton  Magus.  He  is  regarded  as 
the  father  of  heresy,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  announce 
himself  as  an  incarnation  of  God  (Acts  viii.  9.  S.  Iren. 
i.  20.     S.  Hippol.  Ref  Haer.  vi.  19). 

Simon  Magus  was  a  native  of  Samaria,  and  said 
that  he  had  appeared  to  the  Samaritans  as  the  Father, 
to  the  Jews  as  the  Son,  to  the  Gentiles  as  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Thus  he  was  a  precursor  of  Sabellianism  ;  at 
the  same  time  indirectly  he  announced  the  doctrine 
of  the  divinity  of  the  Son  and  Holy  Ghost.  He  said 
that  the  woman  Helena,  whom  he  led  about  with  him, 
was  the  first  conception  of  his  mind,  and  that  by  her 
Angels  were  produced,  who  made  the  world  ;  but 
that  she  was  ill-treated  by  her  own  creatures,  and 
that  he  himself  had  come  down  to  redeem  her,  and 


188  SIMON  MAGUS. 

restore  all  things  (S.  Iren.  i.  20.  S.  Hippol.  vi.  19,  ed. 
Duncker),  and  to  give  salvation  to  man  by  the 
knowledge  of  himself,  and  that  he  himself  had  taken 
a  human  form,  and  was  supposed  to  have  suffered  as 
the  Christ  in  Judaea,  but  that  he  did  not  really  suffer  ; 
that  the  prophets  prophesied  under  the  inspiration 
of  Angels,  who  made  the  world,  and  who  had  been 
produced  by  Helena,  but  had  maltreated  her  ;  and 
that  man  was  to  be  saved  by  faith  in  him,  and  by 
his  grace,  and  not  by  obedience  to  the  Angels,  who 
attempted  to  bring  the  world  into  subjection  to  moral 
laws,  from  which  he  had  come  to  emancipate  them. 

In  this  travesty  or  caricature  of  Christianity  we 
have  a  specimen  of  the  endeavours  made  by  Gnosti- 
cism to  undermine  it  in  faith  and  practice.  It  would 
seem  as  if  the  first  believers  were  severely  tried  by 
these  attempts,  assisted  as  we  know  (with  God's  per- 
mission for  some  wise  purpose)  by  the  sorcery  and 
magic  with  which  Simon,  thence  called  Magus,  "  be- 
witched the  people  of  Samaria"  (Actsviii.  9 — 11). 

It  would  seem  that  he  was  a  victim  of  his  own 
pretensions,  in  accordance  with  the  common  law  of 
penal  retribution  which  is  inflicted  on  such  professors, 
who  are  judicially  blinded  by  their  own  presumption, 
which  recoils  upon  them  to  their  destruction.  Various 
stories  were  circulated  of  his  death,^  but  the  earliest  and 
most  trustworthy  account  seems  to  be  that  of  S.  Hip- 
polytus.  Bishop  of  Portus  Romanus,  that  Simon,  in 
fanatical  self-confidence,  ordered  his  disciples  to  bury 
him,  saying  that  he  would  rise  again  the  third  day  ; 
and  that  he  perished  in  consequence  of  his  own 
command  (S.  Hippol.  Ref.  Haer.  vi.  20). 

1  See  Euseb.  ii.  14;  S.  Cyril  Hieros.  cat.  6;  Tillemont,  i.  176; 
describing  St.  Peter's  encounter  with  him  at  Rome. 


ST.  PETER'S  SECOND  EPISTLE— CERINTHUS.      189 

Simon  Magus  had  been  resisted  at  Samaria  by  St. 
Peter  (Acts  viii.  9)  ;  and  was  afterwards,  it  seems, 
encountered  by  him  at  Rome  (see  note  p.  188)  ; 
and  gave  occasion  to  St.  Peter's  Second  Epistle.^ 
Simon  Magus  was  followed  by  his  disciple  Menander^ 
also  a  Samaritan,  and  a  pretender  to  magic,  who  put 
forth  similar  claims  to  divine  power.  He  declared 
that  the  neophytes  who  accepted  his  baptism  would 
be  exempt  from  death  (Iren.  i.  21).  Such  a  promise 
would  soon  be  refuted  by  facts,  and  he  who  made 
them  would  be  rejected  as  an  impostor. 

St.  John  personally  encountered  Cerinthus  (Iren.  iii. 
3  and  II.  Euseb.  iii.  28),  as  well  as  refuted  him  in  his 
Gospels  and  Epistles.  Cerinthus,  who  was  of  Jewish 
origin,  was  the  leader  of  the  Nazarenes  or  Ebionites, 

2  St.  Peter's  antagonism  to  Simon  Magus,  which  is  attested  by  Church 
history,  reflects  light  on  the  question  of  the  authorship  of  his  second 
Epistle.  Some  critics  have  argued  from  the  dissimilarity  of  its  style — 
rhetorical  and  vehement — from  that  of  ihQ  first  Epistle— quiet  andunim- 
passioned — that  it  is  not  genuine. 

But  tliis  kind  of  Criticism  seems  to  be  superficial,  and  not  of  any  weight 
against  the  claims  of  the  writer  himself  to  be  St.  Peter  ( i  Pet.  i.  I,  and 
i.  16 — 18,  and  see  my  Introduction  to  it,  pp.  74 — 7S). 

Be  it  remembered  that  in  the  Second  Epistle  the  Author  is  writing 
against  false  Teachers— e.  g.  Simon  Magus — "who  brought  in  damn- 
able heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them  "  (2  Pet.  i.  2). 

What  wonder  is  it  that  the  fervid  Apostle, — glowing  with  love  for  his 
Divine  Master,  and  burning  with  zeal  for  His  outraged  honour,  and 
when  thinking  of  the  blasphemies  of  Simon  Magus,  which  he  himself 
had  heard  at  Samaria,  and  which  were  probably  repeated  (after 
solemn  warning)  at  Rome,  and  who  had  received  a  special  Commission 
from  Christ  to  feed  and  tend  the  sheep  and  lambs  for  which  He  died, 
— should  burst  forth  in  language  of  vehement  indignation,  such  as 
characterizes  the  Second  Epistle  that  bears  his  name  ? 

On  the  whole  there  is  a  beautiful  harmony  between  the  two  Epistles 
of  St.  Peter.  Taken  together  they  complete  the  work  of  the  Apostolic 
Shepherd.  In  the  First  Epistle  St.  Peter  quietly  feeds  the  flock  with 
sound  doctrine;  in  the  Second  Epistle  he  takes  up  arms  and  pursues 
the  wolf,  who  is  trying  to  tear  and  devour  it. 


190  EBIONITES—CERINTHUS. 

SO  called  probably  (not^  from  Eblon,  who  seems  to 
have  had  no  existence,  but)  from  the  Hebrew  word 
Ebion  {poo7%  Origen  de  Princip.  iv.  22),  and  probably  a 
term  of  reproach  applied  to  those  Christians  who  had 
migrated  from  Jerusalem  to  Pella,  and  thence  given 
to  the  stricter  form  of  Judaizers,  who  remained  at 
Pella  when  others  returned  to  Jerusalem  and  formed 
a  Gentile  Christian  Church  there,  after  its  destruction 
by  Hadrian,  who  excluded  the  Jews  from  the  ^lian 
City,  which  he  built  on  its  ruins  (Euseb.  iv.  6). 

Cerinthus,  like  other  Gnostics,  separated  the 
Supreme  God  from  the  God  of  the  Jews,  the  Creator 
of  the  world;  but  was  not  hostile  to  Judaism,  and 
attempted  a  compromise  between  it  and  Christianity. 
With  the  Jews,  he  denied  the  Divinity  of  Christ ; 
he  represented  Jesus  as  a  mere  man,  the  son  of  Joseph 
and  Mary,  and  said  that  at  His  baptism  Christ 
descended  upon  Him  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  from  the 
Supreme  Ruler,  and  departed  from  Him  before  the 
end  of  His  ministry,  and  that  the  Man  Jesus  only 
suffered  and  rose  from  the  dead  (Iren^us,  i.  25). 

Thus  he  undermined  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarna- 
tion and  of  the  Atonement,  and  of  the  satisfaction 
made  for  sin  by  the  death  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
took  away  the  main  motives  for  love  to  God  in  Christ 
and  of  hatred  for  sin. 

^  Eusebius  (iii.  27)  seems  to  have  thought  that  Ebion  was  a  real 
personage,  and  was  so  called  on  account  of  the  poverty  and  meanness  of 
his  notions  concerning  Christ.  Tertullian  also  believed  in  his  existence 
(Proescr.  cap.  33  and  cap.  48),  and  Epiphanius  (Hcer.  30  and  Hser.  51), 
but  he  seems  in  c.  30  to  confound  him  with  Cerinthus.  The  Ebionites 
are  said  to  have  received  only  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  in  Hebrew, 
of  which  they  expunged' the  first  two  chapters  (Euseb.  iii.  27.  Epiph. 
Hser.  30.  Theodoret,  Haer.  Fab.  ii.  i).  Ebion's  personality  is  doubted 
by  Dean  Mansel  (Gnostics,  p.  125). 


CARPOCRA  TES—EPIPHANES.  191 

Carpocrates  was  contemporary  with  Cerinthus,  and 
in  many  respects  resembled  him  in  his  teaching 
(Iren.  i.  24.  Hippol.  vii.  32).  But  he  went  further 
in  bringing  out  the  immoral  consequences  of  that 
teaching.  He  said  that  Jesus  opposed  the  Jews  and 
resisted  their  God,  the  Giver  of  the  Law,  and  the 
Creator  of  the  world,  and  that  by  antinomian 
antagonism  He  became  the  Redeemer.  Accordingly, 
he  said  that  those  who  desire  to  partake  of  the  bene- 
fits of  Redemption,  and  to  enjoy  true  freedom,  ought 
to  rebel  against  the  laws  of  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of 
this  world,  and  the  Giver  of  the  Mosaic  Code,  and  to 
make  a  personal  experiment  of  every  action  that  He 
has  condemned  as  sinful  ;  and  that  they  can  never 
attain  to  perfection  till  after  successive  transmigra- 
tions they  have  sounded  all  depths  of  iniquity,  and 
exhausted  all  forms  of  licentiousness. 

Eusebius  says  that  the  promulgation  of  such 
monstrous  doctrines  by  these  heretics  exposed  the 
Church,  which  was  confounded  by  the  heathen  with 
them,  to  charges  of  flagrant  immorality  (Euseb.  iv.  7  ; 
see  above,  p.  92). 

Epiphanes,  the  youthful  son  of  Carpocrates — he 
died  at  seventeen — was  deified  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Same  (who  erected  to  him  altars  and  temples)  in  the 
island  of  Cephallonia,  one  of  the  Ionian  Islands,  where 
noble  ruins  of  its  walls  are  still  visible. 

He  is  said  to  have  carried  the  theories  of  his  father 
Carpocrates  to  a  more  excessive  extreme,  and  to 
have  advocated  communism  in  wives  and  property 
(Clemens  Alex.  Strom,  iii.  22). 

Some  benefits  accrued  to  the  Church  from  the 
practical  evidence  thus  given  of  the  immoral  conse- 
quences resulting  from  the  denial  of  the  harmony  of 


192  OPHITES— CAINITES. 

both  Testaments,  and  from  the  rejection  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Godhead  and  Incarnation  of  Christ,  and 
of  the  Passion  of  che  Son  of  God  for  the  sins  of  the 
world. 

Reverting  to  Simon  Magus  and  Menander,  and  to 
the  next  succession  after  them,  we  are  startled  by  the 
portentous  names  of  Ophites  and  Naassenes,  who 
derived  their  titles  respectively  from  the  word  signify- 
ing Serpent,  in  Greek  [ophis)  and  Hebrew  [nachash), 
and  who  worshipped  the  Evil  One.  In  Simon  Magus 
and  Menander,  Satan  had  tempted  men  to  worship 
man  in  the  place  of  God,  but  in  these  Gnostic  theories 
he  tempted  them  to  worship  himself. 

This  resulted  from  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Gnosticism,  which  regarded  Matter  as  evil,  and  viewed 
the  Demiurge,  or  Creator  of  the  Material  World, 
either  as  an  inferior  Being  or  an  evil  one.  Therefore, 
in  their  opinion,  any  resistance  to  the  Creator,  the 
Author  of  the  Material  Universe,  was  laudable.  On 
this  ground,  the  Tempter,  the  Enemy  of  the  Creator, 
was  entitled  to  praise  as  a  Benefactor  of  mankind. 
And  the  Fall  of  Man,  the  result  of  disobedience,  was, 
according  to  their  theory,  a  work  of  human  freedom. 

For  a  similar  reason,  Cain  had  his  votaries  in  the 
Cainites ;  and  to  the  same  family  belonged  the  men 
of  Sodom,  Esau,  and  Korah.  All  rebels  against 
the  Creator,  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament,  were 
canonized  as  Saints,  divinized  as  Heroes,  and  beati- 
fied as  Martyrs,  in  this  Satanic  family. 

Seth  himself  was  enlisted  by  the  Gnostics  in  their 
service  ;  he  was  represented  as  opposing  the  Demiurge, 
and  his  race  were  exhibited  as  engaged  in  a  struggle 
against  his  material  work,  till  Seth  himself,  as  they 
professed,  reappeared  in  Christ,  who  came,  as  they 


SETHIANI— OPHITES— PERAT^.  193 

said,  into  the  world  to  redeem  mankind  from  the  des- 
potism of  the  Demiurge.  The  Gnostics  who  adopted 
these  opinions  were  called  SetJiiani  (Hippol.  v.  19). 

The  Ophite  sects  regarded  as  their  first  principle  of 
all  things  a  Spiritual  Man,  associated  with  a  second, 
called  the  Son,  and  a  third,  called  the  Spirit  ;  thus 
bearing  witness  even  by  this  irreverent  mimicry  to  the 
primitive  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  From  these  three 
came  a  fourth,  called  the  Christ,  and  a  feminine  prin- 
ciple, Sophia,  Wisdom,  or  Protmikos,  which  means  a 
procreative  faculty,  which  is  the  connecting  link 
between  the  Pleroma  of  Divine  Principles  and  the 
Material  world.  Sophia  gives  birth  to  Jaldabaoth 
(perhaps  meaning  Son  of  Chaos),  who  is  the  Demiurge, 
or  Creator,  parent  of  six  generations  of  Angels,  who 
with  him  are  the  framers  of  the  material  World. 

The  Serpent  is  his  offspring,  and  is  employed  by 
Sophia  to  tempt  Adam  and  Eve  to  disobey  the 
Demiurge.  Some  of  this  school  identified  the  Serpent 
with  the  Divine  Son  Himself. 

The  PeratcB  (probably  passengers  over  the 
Euphrates)  were  given  to  Astrology,  and  were  pro- 
bably of  Chaldaean  origin  (S.  Hippol.  v.  13 — 18,  ed. 
Duncker).  They  referred  to  the  power  of  the  Serpent 
in  the  rod  of  Moses_,  and  to  the  healing  virtue  of  the 
Serpent  lifted  up  by  him  in  the  wilderness,  and  to  our 
Lord's  comment  upon  that  act  of  the  Hebrew  Legislator 
(John  iii.  14),  and  they  perverted  those  words  into  an 
authorization  of  their  theory  which  identified  the 
Serpent  with  Christ. 

The  root  of  the  mischief  of  these  systems  lay  in  the 
non-recognition  of  a  Personal  God,  Who  has  estab- 
lished an  eternal  irreconcilable  distinction  between 
Good  and  Evil,  and  Who  is  the  God  of  both  Testa- 

O 


194  THE  ROOT  OF  THE  EVIL— SATURN INUS. 

ments,  and  Whose  Law  is  the  only  standard  by  which 
the  acts  of  all  men  are  to  be  regulated.  They  denied 
the  Divine  Personality,  and  they  did  not  recognize 
that  man  has  also  a  distinct  personality,  and  possesses 
free  will,  the  gift  of  God,  and  is  accountable  for  his 
acts  to  God,  and  is  not  either  a  mere  material  atom 
in  a  Pantheistic  system,  or  a  creature  of  fatal  neces- 
sity. 

These  truths  not  being  recognized  (as  they  were 
not  by  these  forms  of  Gnosticism,  and  as  they  are  not 
acknowledged  in  some  modern  systems  of  meta- 
physics and  ethics  which  bear  much  resemblance  to 
Gnosticism),  it  follows  that  moral  obligations  dis- 
appear, human  society  is  involved  in  confusion,  and 
finally  Satan  himself  may  be  worshipped  in  the  place 
of  God. 

The  School  of  Simon  and  Menander  gave  birth  to 
those  of  Satunmms  and  Basilides  (Euseb.  iv.  7). 
Sattirnimts,  a  native  of  Syrian  Antioch,  taught  that 
Matter  was  evil ;  that  the  material  world  was  created 
by  an  inferior  agent,  antagonistic  to  the  good  Deity ; 
that  Man,  as  to  his  body,  was  made  by  inferior  Angels, 
but  was  animated  by  life  from  above. 

The  God  of  the  Jews,  they  said,  is  only  one  of  the 
creating  Angels,  and  an  antagonist  to  Satan  ;  it  was 
the  work  of  Christ  as  Redeemer, — Who  had  no  real 
humanity, — to  deliver  man  from  the  dominion  of  the 
God  of  the  Jews,  and  to  save  the  righteous  (S.  Iren. 
i.  22,  Grabe.  S.  Hippol.  vii.  28.  Epiphan.  Haer.  23).  In- 
asmuch as  matter  was  evil,  Saturninus  condemned 
Marriage  and  the  procreation  of  children,  as  from  the 
Evil  One. 

He  asserted  the  prophecies  to  be  partly  from 
Angels,  partly  from  Satan,  whom  he  regarded  as  an 


BASILIDES.  195 

angel,  the  enemy  of  those  who  made  the  world,  espe- 
cially of  the  God  of  the  Jews. 

Basilides,  who  resided  at  Alexandria,  was  contem- 
porary with  Saturninus,  probably  about  A.D.  117 — 
138.  According  to  him,  adopting  in  some  respects 
the  doctrine  of  Plato  (Rep.  vi.  p.  509),  the  Deity  was 
an  absolute  existence  transcending  all  existences  (cp. 
Hippol.  vii.  21).  This  impersonal  Deity  formed  the 
seminal  principle  of  a  future  world. 

His  system  was  neither  dualistic  nor  emanational, 
nor  was  it  hostile  to  Judaism. 

According  to  him,  all  things  are  from  an  eternal 
abstraction.  This  absolute  existence,  or  highest 
Ruler,  called  Abraxas,  or  Abrasax^  gave  birth  to  a 
threefold  Sonship.  Together  with  his  First  or  highest 
Son,  who  was  wiser  than  himself,  he  formed  the 
ethereal  creation  called  the  Ogdoad,  or  sphere  of 
eight.  In  the  next  lower  sphere,  called  the  Hebdomad, 
or  sphere  of  seven,  is  the  second  Archon,  or  Ruler, 
who  is  the  God  of  the  Jews,  and  who  created  all 
things  below  Him.  In  the  third  or  lowest  sphere,  is 
the  third  Sonship,  which  represents  those  residents  in 
the  material  world  who  are  capable  of  purification 
and  elevation  by  adoption  to  the  highest  sphere,  by 
the  process  of  Redemption  under  the  Gospel,  preached 
by  the  Son  Who  came  down  from  the  highest  sphere, 
or  Hebdomad,  and  enlightened  the  two  lower 
spheres. 

This  system  is  one  of  continuous  and  progressive 
development  by  a  fixed    law  of  evolution.     It   has 

*  Abraxas,  or  Abrasax  ;  a  mystical  name  =  365,  according  to  the 
Greek  numeration.  It  is  connected  with  the  days  of  the  Solar  year,  and 
appears  to  signify  his  lordship  over  creation.  The  name  is  often  found 
on  ancient  gems  belonging  to  his  votaries  ;  some  however  are  supposed 
to  be  heathen. 

O    2 


196  PANTHEISM  AND  FA  TALISM. 

been  well  said  ^  that  it  approaches  to  a  Stoic  pan- 
theism, and  to  a  Stoic  fatalism.  There  is  no  place 
for  the  special  providence  of  God,  or  free  will  of  man. 
It  divests  God  of  moral  attributes,  which  alone  can 
make  Him  the  object  of  love  and  worship,  or  entitle 
Him  to  obedience  from  man.  Consequently  Basilides 
allowed  his  votaries  to  eat  freely  meats  offered  to 
idols,  and  to  take  part  in  sacrifices  to  heathen  deities 
in  time  of  persecution  (Iren.  i.  23.     Euseb.  iv.  7). 

5  By  Dean  Mansel,   p.  165,  who  shows  that  in  many  respects  Hegel 
has  been  anticipated  by  Basihdes. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Gnostic   Heresies   contimied — Tatian,    the    Eiicratites, 
Marcion,  the  Clementines— the  Elchasaites. 

We  have  seen  how  in  Carpocrates,  and  in  his  son 
Epiphanes,  the  Gnostic  doctrines  of  the  evil  of 
Matter,  and  of  the  separation  of  the  Creator,  the  God 
of  the  Jews,  from  the  Supreme  God,  and  from  the 
Author  of  Christianity,  and  the  denial  of  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Incarnation  and  Atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  led 
some  of  their  votaries  to  sensual  indulgence  and  to 
antinomian  licentiousness.  The  same  doctrines  car- 
ried others  of  a  different  temperament  to  the 
opposite  extreme  of  rigid  asceticism. 

If  the  material  world  is  evil,  the  human  body,  as 
distinct  from  the  spirit,  is  evil ;  the  propagation  of 
the  human  race  is  evil ;  Marriage  is  evil ;  the  use  of 
meats  and  drinks  is  evil.  In  a  word,  a  morbid 
spiritualism  grew  from  the  same  root  as  that  which 
produced  a  licentious  sensuality.^ 

One  of  the  principal  representatives  of  the  former 
system  was  Tatian,  the  scholar  of  S.  Justin  Martyr 
(Iren.  i.  30,  31  ;    iii.  39.     Euseb.  iv.  29.     Tillemont, 

1  St.  Paul  gave  a  prophetic  warning  of  those  consequences  ;  see  on 
Col.  ii.  21 — 23,  where  contempt  of  the  body  (d^eiSia  aui^xa-ros)  is,  by  a 
marvellous  insight  into  the  subtle  inner  working  and  full  development 
of  that  principle,  shown  to  lead  to  7rAr?(r/iOJ/^  aapKhs  {indulgence  of  the 
jL'sh).     See  verse  18,  "vainly  puffed  up  by  \i\s fleshly  mind:' 


198  THE  ENCRATITES—TATIAN—MARCION. 

ii.  411).  He  was  the  author  of  an  oration  against 
the  heathen,  still  extant,  and  first  compiler  of  a 
Diatessaron,"  or  harmonious  digest  of  the  four  Gospels 
(Euseb.  iv.  29).  After  the  martyrdom  of  his  master 
Justin,  Tatian  returned  to  the  East,  and  imbibed  the 
opinions  of  Gnosticism,  especially  of  Saturninus  ;  and 
being  (says  Eusebius)  elated  by  spiritual  pride  and 
vain-glorious  conceit  of  his  own  learning  and  ability 
and  spirituality,  founded  the  sect  of  the  Encratites  or 
Abstinentes.  He  condemned  Marriage,  and  animal 
food,  and  the  use  of  wine,  for  which  he  substituted 
water  in  the  Holy  Communion  (Theodoret,  Haeret. 
Fab.  i.  20.  Epiphan.  Haer.  46).  His  hatred  of  matter 
led  him  to  assert  with  the  Docetae,  that  our  Lord's 
Body  was  not  real,  but  a  visionary  Phantom.  He 
took  upon  himself  to  revise  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul 
(Euseb.  iv.  29). 

The  full  development  of  these  doctrines  was  after- 
wards displayed  to  the  world  in  Manicheism,  which 
was  combated  energetically  and  successfully  by  S. 
Augustine,  who  himself  had  once  been  one  of  its  dis- 
ciples and  advocates. 

Connected  chronologically  with  S.  Justin  Martyr 
and  with  S.  Polycarp,  and  in  some  of  his  doctrines 
with  Tatian,  was  Marcion,  of  Pontus  in  Asia,  the  son 
of  a  Bishop,  and  excommunicated,  it  is  said,  by  his 
father  (Epiphan.  Haer.  42).  He  came  to  Rome,  and 
not  being  admitted  to  communion  with  the  Church 
there,  he  became  notorious  for  heresy.  He  is 
described  by  Justin  Martyr  in  his  first  Apology 
(c.  26  ;  cp.  Euseb.  iv.  11)  in  the  following  terms  : — "A 
certain  Marcion  of  Pontus  is  still  living,  who  teaches 

2  See  Bishop  Lightfoot's  article  in  the  Contemporary  Review^  May, 
1877. 


WHENCE  IS  EVIL1—MARCI0N  AND  RATIONALISMA^ 

his  disciples  to  believe  in  a  god,  different  from,  and 
superior  to,  the  Creator  of  the  world ;  and  he 
instructs  them  to  utter  blasphemies  against  the 
Creator,  and  to  profess  their  belief  in  the  superior 
deity."  S.  Irenaeus  states,  as  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, that  Marcion  having  come  to  Rome  in  the 
time  of  Anicetus,  Bishop  of  that  See  (A.D.  157—168), 
met  S.  Polycarp  there,  and  asked  him, "  Dost  not  thou 
recognize  me  ? "  "  Yes,"  the  reply  was,  "  I  recognize 
thee  as  the  first-born  of  Satan"  (Iren.  iii.  3,  6. 
S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  17). 

The  problem  as  to  the  Origin  of  Evil  which  exer- 
cised the  minds  of  heretics  produced  the  dogmas  of 
Marcion  (see  Tillemont,  ii.  266).  He  did  not  distin- 
guish between  KaKia  and  irovqpia  {moral  evil).  He 
would  not  acknowledge  with  the  Church  that  the  mahim 
pcence,  or  pain  of  suffering,  is  not  moral  evil,  but  is  a 
punishment  for  sin,  and  that  the  malum  peccati,  or 
evil  of  sin,  is  not  a  real,  created  substance,— according 
to  S.  Augustine's  saying,  that  "  sin  is  not  nature,  but 
a  corruption  of  nature,"  and  is  due  to  the  abuse  of 
the  free  will  of  man,  created  by  God  a  reasonable 
creature,  but  deviating  from  the  law  of  his  being  given 
it  by  God  (Tertullian  c.  Marcion,  ii.  2—5). 

Marcion  might  be  called  a  Gnostic,  as  setting  up  his 
own  gnosis  above  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture  and 
of  the  Church,  but  he  was  not  so  much  a  Gnostic  as  a 
Rationalist. 

He  was  the  precursor  of  that  so-called  "higher 
criticism,"  which  by  the  action  of"  its  inner  conscious- 
ness "  subordinates  Revelation  to  its  own  subjective 
notions,  and  rejects  all  those  portions  of  the  Holy 
Scripture  which  it  cannot  reconcile  with  the  results  of 
its  own  investigations. 


200  MARCION'S  CRITICISMS  ON  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

Marcion  rejected  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament ' 
as  inconsistent  with  his  own  conceptions  of  morality 
and  with  the  New  Testament/  and  as  containing  state- 
ments irreconcilable  with  one  another  (TertuUian 
adv.  Marcion,  i.  i8,  22,  24,  26). 

He  applied  a  similar  process  to  the  New  Testament 
itself.  He  did  not  indeed  reject  the  whole,  but  he 
ascribed  the  greater  part  of  it  to  Judaizing  teachers 
who  had  depraved  the  primitive  truth.  He  made 
an  exception  in  favour  of  such  portions  of  it  as  were 
in  accordance  with  his  own  opinions,  and  congenial  to 
his  own  temperament,  such  as  some  Epistles  of 
St.  Paul  (Epiphan.  Hser.  42)  ;  but  he  altered  the  text, 
and  distorted  their  meaning  by  arbitrary  interpreta- 
tions according  to  his  own  caprice,  so  as  to  accommo- 
date them  to  his  own  theories  (Lardner's  History  of 
Heretics,  chap.  x.  sect.  35). 

Not  only  did  he  reject  the  Old  Testament,  but  he 
attributed  its  authorship  to  a  deity  different  from,  and 
opposed  to,  the  author  of  the  New  :  the  former  he 
characterized  as  the  just,  meaning  thereby  the  stern, 
severe,  and  merciless  ;  the  other,  the  good,  that  is,  the 
benevolent  and  merciful  God. 

As,  in  his  system,  there  were  two  Gods,  so  were 
there  two  Christs  ;  the  one  the  Messiah  of  the  Hebrew 
Prophets,  a  military  conqueror  of  the  heathen,  an 
earthly  sovereign,  a  temporal  and  spiritual  deliverer 
and  restorer  of  the  literal  Israel ;  the  other  the  Christ 
of  the  Gospels,  but  not  such  an  one  as  the  genuine 
Gospels  revealed,  but  a   Christ  of  a  mutilated   and 

3  See  Iren.  i.  29,  and  Tertullian's  five  hooks  against  Marcion,  of 
which  an  analysis  may  be  seen  in  Bp.  Kaye's  TertuUian,  pp.  480 — 508. 

•*  Marcion  composed  a  work  entitled  Antitheseis,  being  an  attempt  to 
show  the  discrepancies  between  the  Old  and  New  Testament. 


MARCION  ON  THE  OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENTS.  201 

interpolated  Gospel,  grounded  on  that  of  St.  Luke, — a 
Christ  who,  according  to  the  theory  of  the  Docetae, 
seemed  to  be  born,  and  seemed  to  wear  human  flesh, 
and  to  suffer, — a  Christ  who  went  down  into  Hades 
to  preach,  not  to  the  saints  of  the  old  dispensation 
who  had  been  obedient  to  the  Demiurge  or  God  of 
the  Old  Testament  and  were  left  in  Hades,  but  to 
deliver  those  who  had  rebelled  against  the  Creator, 
the  God  of  the  Old  Testament,  such  as  Cain,  the 
Sodomites,  the  Egyptians,  and  Korah,  Dathan,  and 
Abiram  (Iren.  i.  29.  Theodoret,  Haeret.  Fab.  i.  24. 
Epiphan,  Haer.  42). 

Marcion  condemned  Matter  as  evil,  and  consequently 
reprobated  Marriage  and  animal  food.  He  denied 
the  Incarnation,  and  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the 
Resurrection  of  the  Body  ;  and  he  promised  salvation 
only  to  the  souls  of  such  persons  as  accepted  his 
own  teaching,  and  who  were  admitted  by  Baptism 
into  his  communion,  with  a  vow  of  renunciation  of  the 
Demiurge  and  his  works,  and  with  a  profession  of 
faith  in  the  doctrines  of  Marcion  and  of  his  school. 

Marcion  has  had,  and  still  has,  many  followers  in 
later  times,  probably  unconscious  of  being  so.  To  such, 
and  to  those  who  are  likely  to  be  influenced  by  them, 
the  study  of  the  five  books  of  Tertullian  against  Mar- 
cion ^  will  be  very  profitable. 

Attempts  were  made  on  the  part  of  Judaizing 
Christians, — reviving  the  tenets  of  Cerinthus  and  the 
Ebionites, — to  refute  the  heresy  of  Marcion. 

*  Two  of  his  principal  fallacies  were  (l)  non-recognition  of  man's 
feebleness,  and  ignorance,  especially  as  to  divine  things,  and  his  conse- 
quent need  of  Revelation ;  and  (2)  the  confusion  of  Christ's  Two 
Advents.  Cp.  Bp.  Kaye  on  Tertullian,  pp.  487 — 507,  and  Dean  Mansel 
on  the  Gnostics,  pp.  211 — 213. 


202         THE  CLEMENTINES  ;    THE  ELCHASAITES. 

This  was  done  in  the  Clementines^  as  they  "are  called, 
the  Homilies,  Recognitions,  and  Epitome  of  the  Clemen- 
tines, so  named  from  Clement,  a  noble  Roman 
Citizen, — an  anxious  inquirer  after  truth.  They  con- 
tain letters  and  speeches  ascribed  to  St.  Peter  and 
St.  James,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem ;  but  are  probably 
not  earlier  than  A.D.  163. 

With  them  may  be  classed  the  heresy  of  the 
Elchasaites,  so  called,  it  seems,  from  the  Hebrew "'  words 
signifying  ^^  hidden  power;''  and  claiming  to  be 
possessors  of  a  book  inspired  by  an  Angel,  and 
which  had  come  from  heaven  (like  the  Koran  and 
Book  of  Mormon),  in  which  was  a  revelation  of  secret 
mysteries.'  These  have  little  interest  for  us,  except 
as  showing  that  if  Marcion  had  not  been  encoun- 
tered by  other  adversaries  than  such  as  those  who 
reproduced  Judaism  in  a  mutilated  form,  and  who 
anticipated  v/hat  is  now  known  as  Socinianism, 
he  would  have  retained  his  influence  over  his  fol- 
lowers ;  but,  as  we  shall  see,  other  more  powerful 
opponents  of  his  heresy  were  raised  up,  and  more 
victorious  champions  of  the  Truth. 

s  Which  may  be  seen  in  Cotelerii  "  Patres  Apostolici,"  ed.  1672, 
and  in  Dressel's  edition  of  "  Patres  Apostolici,"  ed.  1853.  More  will  be 
said  on  the  Clementines  below,  Chap,  xxiii. 

'  i.e.  cJieil  power;  and  casah,  to  hide  or  cover. 

^^  Epiphan.  Hceres.  19.  S.  Hippolyt.  ix.  14.  Cp,  Dean  Mansel  on 
Gnostic  Heresies,  p.  234. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Gnostic  Heresies  continued —  Valentinus. 

We  have  been  considering  the  forms  of  Gnosticism, 
disdaining  the  Faith  revealed  in  Holy  Scripture  and 
professed  by  the  Catholic  Church,  and  despising 
Divine  Grace,  and  relying  on  the  powers  of  human 
Intelligence.  We  have  seen  how,  being  swayed  by 
the  arbitrary  exercise  of  human  Will,  it  put  forth 
two  various  and  opposite  principles,  in  order  to 
solve  the  problem  of  the  existence  of  Evil,  and  of  the 
operation  of  a  Divine  Being  in  the  creation  of  the 
material  world. 

One  of  these  two  opposite  principles  was  that  of 
Dualism,  which  proclaimed  the  existence  and  opera- 
tion of  two  antagonistic  Powers — one  Good,  the  other 
Evil. 

The  other  principle  was  that  of  Emanations  from 
One  First  Cause,  and  of  successive  Developments 
from  it.  We  have  seen  also  how  these  two  principles 
led  to  two  opposite  results,  both  of  them  antinomian  ; 
the  one,  of  sensual  Hbertinism  and  communism;  the 
other,  of  morbid  spiritualism.  The  former  engendered 
such  systems  as  that  of  Carpocrates  ;  the  latter,  that 
of  Tatian  and  the  Encratites. 

We  are  now  brought  chronologically  to  that  system 
which  was  the  most  elaborate  consummation  of  the 


20i  VALEN7INUS, 

theory  of  Emanations,  and  which  seems  to  have  exer- 
cised more  influence  than  any  other  form  of  Gnos- 
ticism,— that  of  Valentinus. 

This  system  was  also  distinguished  by  its  endeavour 
to  take  into  account  the  phenomena  of  the  facts  and 
doctrines  of  the  two  leading  forms  of  Religion  then 
presented  to  its  view, — Judaism  and  Christianity. 

Valentinus  was  probably  a  native  of  Egypt,  and 
brought  up  in  Alexandria,  where  he  was  trained  in 
Greek  Literature,  especially  in  Platonism,  and  he  is 
described  as  endeavouring  to  blend  together,  in  a 
composite  syncretism,  the  Platonic  theory  of  Ideas, 
the  Pythagorean  mystery  of  Numbers,  the  Epicurean 
tenet  of  divine  imperturbability,  the  mythological 
theogony  of  Hesiod  and  other  heathen  poets,  with 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  and  other  Scriptures,  both  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  interpreted,  or  rather 
distorted,  according  to  his  own  principles.^ 

He  appears  to  have  been  at  Rome  on  various  occa- 
sions, especially  about  the  same  time  as  S.  Polycarp, 
namely,  in  the  pontificate  of  Anicetus,  A.D.  157 — 168, 
and  probably  before  he  is  said  to  have  apostatized 
from  the  Church  when  on  a  visit  to  Cyprus. 

The  Scholar  of  S.  Polycarp,  S.  Irenseus,  Bishop  of 
Lyons,  has  examined  fully  the  system  of  Valentinus, 
in  his  great  work,  written  in  Greek,  about  A.D.  184, 
'*  The  Refutation  and  Overthrow  of  Gnosis  falsely 
so  called,"  especially  in  its  first  chapter. 

According  to  Valentinus,  the  primary  origin  of  all 
things  was  BytJms  or  Depth,  sometimes  called  the 
Unutterable.  To  BytJms  a  consort  was  assigned,  called 
Sige  or  Silence  ;   and  from  this  original  pair  sprang 

^  See  Tertullian  c.  Valentin,  c.  4;  Prsescr.  c.  30,  38  ;  S.  Iren.  i.  32  ; 
S.  Hippol.  vi.  29. 


^ONS—PLEROMA.  205 

three  other  co-ordinate  pairs,  male  and  female,  namely, 
Nous,  or  Mind  ;  Aletheia,  or  Truth  ;  Logos,  Word  ;  and 
Zot\  Life  ;  A?ithropos,  Man ;  and  Ecdcsia,  Church  :  thus 
forming-  an  Ogdoad,  or  group  of  Eight  in  all. 

From  one  of  these  pairs  of  jEohs,  Logos  and  Zoe, 
were  generated  four  more  pairs,  male  and  female, 
thus  forming  a  Decad,  or  group  of  Ten. 

From  Logos  and  Zoe  were  also  generated  six  other 
pairs,  male  and  female,  making  a  Dodecad,  or  group 
of  Twelve. 

The  three  groups  together  formed  the  Pleromaj  or 
fulness,  or  complement  of  thirty  ^ons. 

The  first  group  of  ^ons,^  the  Ogdoad,  represents 
the  Supreme  Being,^  first  in  His  absolute  Self-existence, 
next  in  His  relative,  or  generative  and  co-operative 
character. 

The  Second  and  Third  Orders  of  ^ons  (viz.  the 
Decad  and  Dodecad)  represent  generally  by  their 
masculine  terms  some  attribute  of  the  Deity,  either 
absolutely,  or  in  His  relation  to  man,  and  by  their 
feminine  terms  some  gift  or  grace  from  Him. 

It  may  be  mentioned  as  a  specimen  of  the  allegori- 
cal method  of  interpretation  which  Valentinus  applied 
to  Holy  Scripture,  that  he  said  that  his  thirty  ^ons 
were  symbolized  by  the  thirty  years  of  our  Lord's 
Life,  the  twelve  ^ons  of  the  Dodecad  by  the  twelve 
Apostles  ;  the  other  two  groups  of  ^ons,  the 
Ogdoad  and  Decad,  by  the  first  two  letters  of  Jesus, 
namely,  iota,  equalling  te?i  in  Greek  numeration,  and 
eta,  equalling  eight. 

7  The  term  ^ons — alcoves — as  personifications  and  manifestations  of 
Divine  attributes,  was  a  characteristic  of  the  Valentinian  nomenclature 
(S.  Hippol.  vi.  20). 

3  Cp.  Dean  Alansel  on  Gnostic  heresies,  p.  1 73. 


20S  ^ONS—PLEROMA. 

The  last  of  the  thirty  ^ons  ^ — Sophia,  or  Wisdom — 
issued  forth  from  the  Pleroma,  in  a  desire  to  know  the 
Father  of  all,  which  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  do ; 
and  she  was  brought  back  to  the  Pleroma  by  Horos 
(boundary),  or  Staiiros  (Cross).  Her  desire  to  see  the 
Father  assumed  a  form  called  AcJiainoth  (Hebrew 
plural  for  Wisdom).  Then  Notes,  or  Mind,  produced 
another  pair,  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Christ  taught  the  ^ons  to  know  the  Father  as  far 
as  He  was  knowable ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit  taught 
them  to  praise  Him,  and  to  enjoy  peace. 

In  the  knowledge  thus  imparted,  and  in  the  peace 
thus  enjoyed,  the  ^ons,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Father,  joined  together  in  producing  Jesus,  to  Whom 
each  gave  what  each  had  most  precious,  so  that  He 
was,  as  it  were,  the  flower  of  the  Pleroma,  and  united 
in  Himself  the  names  of  all  the  ^ons,  especially  of 
Christ  and  the  Word,  because  He  came  forth  from 
them  all ;  and  this  (said  Valentinus)  was  the  meaning 
of  St.  Paul's  words  (Col.  i.  9),  "All  fulness  dwelt  in 
Him." 

They  also  at  the  same  time  produced  the  Angels  as 
His  guards. 

Achamoth  (Wisdom)  being  in  a  state  of  misery, 
made  an  effort  to  return  to  the  Pleroma ;  and  Christ 
sent  her  the  Saviour,  with  the  power  of  the  Father  and 
of  all  the  Angels.  They  gave  her  knowledge,  and 
released  her  from  the  tyranny  of  her  passions,  out  of 
which  an  evil  substance  was  formed.  She,  laughing 
for  joy,  made  the  light,  and  conceived  a  spiritual  fruit 
by  union  with  the  Angels.  Thus  three  substances 
were  generated  :  the  spiritual,  incapable  of  corruption  ; 

9  See  the  first  chapters  of  Irenaeus,  and  Abbe  Fleury,  H.  E.  iii.  27, 
28,  whose  analysis  will  be  found  useful. 


VALENTINUS  ON  CHRISTIANITY.  207 

the  animal,  which  may  either  be  saved  or  lost ;  the 
material,  destined  to  perish. 

Achamoth  was  the  Spiritual  Substance,  but  she 
formed  the  two  others  ;  and  from  the  animal  substance 
she  made  the  Demiurge,  who  is  the  Creator  and  God 
of  the  World  outside  the  Pleroma. 

The  Demiurge  was  not  conscious  of  what  was  above 
him,  and  he  imagined  himself  to  be  the  sole  god,  and 
announced  himself  as  such  by  the  Hebrew  Prophets. 

He  was  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  this  world,  namely, 
of  the  Evil  One,  and  of  evil  spirits. 

The  Demiurge  or  Creator  was  also  the  maker  of 
the  "  earthy  Man,^'  into  whom  he  breathed  a  soul,  and 
made  him  after  his  own  likeness.  The  "  earthy 
Man  "  received  the  Spiritual  Seed,  which  Achamoth 
had  conceived  from  the  Angels  ;  and  this  Spiritual 
Seed  was  the  image  of  the  higher  Ecclesia,  or  Church 
which  was  within  the  Pleroma. 

The  Saviour  received  the  firstfruits  of  what  He 
came  to  save.  From  Achamoth  He  received  what 
was  spiritual ;  from  the  Author  of  the  World  He 
received  the  clothing  of  the  animal  body  of  Christ,  so 
that  His  body  was  animal,  and  yet  invisible  and 
impassible. 

Some  scholars  of  Valentinus  said  that  the  Author  of 
the  World  produced  a  Christ  of  the  same  nature  as 
Himself;  and  that  this  Christ  passed  through  the 
body  of  Mary,  as  water  passes  through  a  funnel,  with- 
out taking  anything  of  her  nature  ;  and  that  the 
Saviour  issued  forth  from  the  Pleroma  with  the  per- 
fections of  all  the  ^ons,  and  descended  on  Christ  at 
His  Baptism,  but  quitted  Him  when  He  was  brought 
before  Pilate  ;  and  that  it  was  only  the  animal  nature 
of  Christ  which  suffered. 


208   VALENTINUS  ON  THE  FUTURE  STATE— MORAL 
RESUL  TS. 

They  taught  that  at  the  consummation  of  all  things, 
spiritual  men  will  become  pure  spirits,  and  enter  the 
Pleroma,  into  which  nothing  animal  can  find  admis- 
sion, and  will  be  espoused  to  the  Angels  who  surround 
the  Saviour.  The  material  world  will  then  be  con- 
sumed by  fire. 

In  the  celebration  of  their  initiatory  mysteries,  some 
of  the  disciples  of  Valentinus  dressed  up  a  marriage 
chamber,  and  performed  a  nuptial  ceremony,  which 
they  called  spiritual  wedlock,  in  imitation  of  the  con- 
jugal union  of  the  ^ons. 

Some  of  them  administered  Baptism  in  the  name 
of  the  Unknown  Father,  and  of  Alethea  the  mother 
of  all,  and  of  Him  Who  descended  on  Jesus.  Others 
said  that  redemption  was  wholly  spiritual,  and  was 
accomplished  without  any  external  means  ;  but  was 
effected  internally  by  means  of  perfect  knowledge. 

Their  mysteries  were  enveloped  in  profound  secrecy, 
and  were  revealed  only  to  those  who  sought  earnestly 
for  initiation  with  urgent  entreaty,  and  often  with 
heavy  payments  of  large  sums  of  money.^ 

The  moral  consequences  of  these  doctrines  were, 
that  spiritual  men  who  profess  Gnosis  have  no  need 
of  good  works,  because  they  have  divine  grace,  which 
is  indefeasible.  As  gold  cannot  be  hurt  by  being 
plunged  into  the  mud,  so  these  spiritual  men  cannot 
be  sullied,  although  they  may  wallow  in  the  mire  of 
fleshly  lusts. 

In  these  respects  Valentinus  anticipated  the  tenets 
and  practices  of  some  Antinomians  of  later  days. 

They  denied  themselves  no  carnal  indulgence,  and 

1  Tertullian  c.  Valent.  c.  1—3. 


RECAPITULATION.  20^- 

avoided  Martyrdom.  Christ,  they  said,  had  suffered 
for  them,  and  they  had  nothing  to  do  for  themselves 
in  order  to  be  saved. ^ 

Valentinus  added  that  mere  animal  men  (by  which 
he  meant  members  of  the  Church)  ought  to  do  good 
works,  being  incapable  of  attaining  true  gnosis,  and 
that  it  was  right  for  them  to  have  faith,  practise  self- 
denial,  and  suffer  martyrdom,  and  that  thus  they 
might  be  saved  ;  but  that  these  things  were  not  neces- 
sary for  the  spiritual. 

In  reviewing  the  system  of  Valentinus,  we  are  led 
to  consider  the  causes  to  which  its  popularity  is  to  be 
ascribed. 

Some  learned  persons  have  regarded  the  system  of 
Valentinus  as  "  so  replete  with  absurdity  that  they 
would  be  disposed  to  pass  it  over  without  notice."  ^ 
But  the  investigation  is  instructive,  as  showing  that  an 
appeal  to  human  frailties  and  passions, — however 
extravagant,  romantic,  and  fantastic  in  some  of  its 
features  that  appeal  may  be, — is  not  unlikely  to  be 
successful  for  a  time.  In  this  respect  it  supplies 
salutary  warnings  for  every  age. 

Valentinus  speculated  on  those  elements  of  human 
nature  which  are  susceptible  of  impressions  from  with- 
out, and  he  gained  admission  into  the  human  mind 
and  heart  by  the  ingenuity  with  which  he  practised 
upon  them. 

In  a  certain  sense  he  made  himself  all  things  to  all 
men.  His  system  was  eclectic  and  encyclopaedic,  and 
adjusted  itself  with  dexterous  ingenuity  and  plastic 
pliancy  to   all.     It   alienated    no  one    by  wholesale 


'  Tertullian,  Scorpiac.  c.  i.     Irenasus,  i.  i. 
3  So  Bp,  Kaye  on  Tertullian,  p.  514,  ed.  1826. 

P 


210       VALENTINIANISM—ITS  CHARACTERISTICS. 

rejections  and  direct  negations.  It  openly  offended 
no  one  ;  it  affronted  no  one.  It  could  see  good  in  all 
men  and  in  all  systems.  With  bland  courtesy  and 
amiable  politeness  it  smiled  on  all,  and  won  them  by 
complaisant  flattery  and  compromise.  It  had  poetical 
and  romantic  legends  for  persons  of  imaginative  tem- 
peraments ;  it  was  accommodating  to  the  mystic  who 
was  fond  of  diving  into  abstruse  secrets,  or  enamoured 
of  a  solemn  ritual  with  musical  attractions,  or  allured 
by  the  charm  of  being  initiated  among  the  elect  few, 
and  admitted  as  a  privileged  neophyte  to  the  revela- 
tion of  divine  mysteries.  It  had  fascinations  for  the 
philosophic  votary  who  was  fond  of  paradoxes,  and 
coveted  a  monopoly  of  knowledge.  It  had  elements 
of  heathenism  for  heathens  ;  of  Pythagoreanism  for 
Pythagoreans  ;  of  Platonism  for  the  Platonist ;  of 
Aristotellanism  with  its  esoteric  teaching  for  the 
Peripatetic  ;  of  Judaism  for  the  Jew  ;  of  Christianity 
for  the  Christian.  It  did  not,  like  some  Gnostic 
systems,  reject  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  patronized  them,  and  it  favoured  its  disciples  with 
more  enlightened  and  transcendental  interpretations  of 
them,  like  the  Swedenborgianism  of  later  days  ;  It 
professed  that  in  the  allegorical  expositions  of  Valen- 
tinus,  and  in  them  alone,  the  true  sense  of  Moses  and 
the  Prophets,  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  was  to  be 
found, — a  sense  hitherto  hidden  and  unknown  to  the 
vulgar  many,  but  discovered  to  Its  favoured  admirers. 
It  treated  Scripture,  says  Irenaeus  (I.  i),  as  the  framers 
of  Homeric  centos  treated  Homer.  It  did  not  pro- 
scribe the  orthodox.  It  said  that  the  Church  was  a 
good  thing  for  certain  minds.  It  allowed  her  members 
to  believe  and  to  do  good  works,  to  fast  and  to  pray 
and    to   suffer    martyrdom.     Such   things  would   be 


VALENTINIANISM—ITS  CLAIMS  AND  RESULTS.  211 

useful  to  those  who  belonged  to  a  lower  grade  of 
spiritual  being.  But  to  the  illuminated  disciples  of 
Valentinus,  to  those  who  were  exalted  by  the  know- 
ledge which  he  imparted  in  the  higher  atmosphere  of 
speculation  and  intelligence,  such  things  were  super- 
fluous. Temperance  was  a  work  of  supererogation. 
Martyrdom  would  even  be  a  sin  for  the  elect  saints. 
It  would  be  a  denial  of  Christ's  all-prevailing  merits 
and  infinite  love  to  these  His  special  favourites. 
Whatever  they  did  or  did  not  do,  they  could  not  but 
be  saved.  It  would  be  a  sin  to  doubt  it.  They  might 
live  worldly  lives,  they  might  indulge  in  carnal  lusts, 
they  might  commit  adultery  and  incest,  and  frequent 
idolatrous  banquets  ;  they  might  do  any  acts  which 
in  members  of  the  Church  would  be  criminal,  but 
nothing  could  tarnish  the  essential  purity  and  saintly 
brightness  and  pellucid  lustre  of  their  spiritual  being. 
Its  sunbeams  could  never  be  tainted  by  the  mire  of 
the  foulest  pool,  which  would  be  irradiated  by  them. 

Such  was  the  teaching  of  Valentinus,  and  such  were 
its  moral  results.  It  met  with  formidable  antagonists, 
especially  in  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian  ;  and,  above  all, 
in  the  calm  and  steadfast  action  of  the  Church  herself 
Before  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  Valentinianism 
was  almost  a  thing  of  the  past.^  The  reader  will 
recognize  in  it,  however,  many  elements  which  made 
themselves  manifest  in  the  theology  of  sectaries  on 
the  Continent  and  in  England  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  some  of  which  are  still  active  ; 
and  also  in  some  speculations  which  are  now  put 
forth  in  some  modern  systems  of  metaphysics. 

But   to   those  who   carefully  study  the  history  of 

^  Epiphan.   Hoer.  31,  c.  7. 
P    2 


212     VALENTINIANISM— PRACTICAL  INFERENCES 
FROM  IT. 

Gnosticism  and   meditate  upon  it,  the  experience  of 

the  past  will  be  a  safeguard  against  such   delusions, 

however  specious  and  confident  they  may  be,  as  being 

little  better  than  revivals   of  obsolete  and  exploded 

hallucinations. 

That  experience  will  also  be  an   assurance  to  the 

faithful,  that  if  they  are  true  to  their  Divine  Lord,  and 

to  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture,  interpreted  by  the 

Church  in  her  Creeds,  and  if  they  meditate  upon  the 

records  of  the  Early  Church,  and  upon  what  was  done 

by  the  ancient  Champions  of  the  Truth,  they  will  be 

preserved  by  His  power  and  love  from  the  malice  and 

arts  of  the  Enemy,  who  destroyed  the  faith  of  many 

by  means  of  the  heresy  of  Valentinus. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Defenders  of  CJiristianity  against  Heresy — 5.  IrencEiis. 

It  is  refreshing  to  turn  from  the  speculations  of  Gnos- 
ticism to  the  defenders  of  Christianity.  Error  is 
various,  shifting,  and  evanescent.  Truth  is  one,  uni- 
form, and  permanent.  However  celebrated  and  popu- 
lar some  of  the  founders  of  schools  of  Gnosticism  were, 
— and  great  was  the  reputation  and  wide  the  influence 
of  some  of  them  for  a  time, — yet  it  is  remarkable,  that 
while  their  names  remain,  scarcely  any  writings  or 
portions  of  writings  of  any  among  them  (the  Clemen- 
tines excepted)  have  come  down  to  us.  What  is  now 
known  of  their  works  is  due  mainly  to  their  adver- 
saries, who  have  quoted  extracts  from  them.  Had  it 
not  been  for  Irenaeus,  we  should  have  known  little  of 
Valentinus.^ 

This  is  one  among  the  many  proofs  of  the  unsound- 
ness of  their  teaching.  And  those  documents  which 
they  rejected  or  misinterpreted,  namely,  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  have  been  preserved  entire  ;  not  a  single 
chapter  of  them  has  perished  in  the  lapse  of  centuries. 

The  Creeds  also,  in  which  the  Church,  animated 
and  enlightened  by  the  indwelling  presence  of  Christ, 

^  Burke's  remarks  on  the  evanescence  of  the  writings  and  names  of 
the  most  popular  EngHsh  Sceptics  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  Chubb,  Toland,  Tindal,  Collins,  Morgan,  Lord  Shaftesbury, 
and  Bolingbroke,  may  occur  to  the  reader. 


214    VARIATIONS  AND  EVANESCENCE  OF  ERROR ; 
UNITY  AND  PERMANENCE  OF  TRUTH. 

and  by  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  has  deposited 
the  Truth,  as  a  sacred  treasure,  remain  unchanged  and 
unchangeable.  The  Scriptures  and  Creeds  have  been 
protected  by  Him  Who  is  the  Truth,  and  Who  pro- 
mised to  the  Church  that  the  gates  of  hell  should  not 
prevail  against  her. 

But  this  is  not  all.  The  treatises  of  Gnostic 
Teachers  have  vanished  ;  but  the  defences  of  Chris- 
tianity against  them  survive.  Five  principal  vindica- 
tions of  the  Truth  may  be  mentioned  ;  the  one  by  the 
Bishop  of  Lyons  in  Gaul,  vS.  Irenmis  ;  the  second  by  a 
person  who  was  probably  a  presbyter  of  Carthage, 
Tertiillian  ^ ;  the  third  by  a  presbyter  and  doctor  of 
Alexandria,  vS".  Clement ;  the  fourth  by  a  presbyter  and 
his  scholar,  Origen ;  the  fifth  by  vS.  Hippolytiis,  a 
scholar  of  Irenseus,  and  Bishop  of  Portus  Romanus, 
the  harbour  of  Rome. 

IrencBits,  Bishop  of  Lyons  in  Gaul,  where  he  suc- 
ceeded the  Martyr  Pothinus  (above,  pp.  174,  180),  was 
probably  by  birth  an  Asiatic.  Writing  to  a  heretical 
teacher  Florinus,  he  says  (Euseb.  v.  20),  "When  I 
was  a  boy,  I  saw  thee  in  the  company  of  Polycarp  in 
Asia,  when  thou  wast  flourishing  in  the  royal  Court,  and 
endeavouring  to  win  his  good  graces.  I  remember  better 
what  happened  then  than  I  do  what  is  more  recent, 
for  the  teaching  we  receive  in  boyhood  grows  with  our 
growth  and  knits  itself  to  our  souls  ;  so  that  I  can 
describe  the  place  in  which  the  blessed  Polycarp  used 
to  sit,  and  his  going  out  and  his  coming  in,  and  the 
manner  of  his  life  and  the  figure  of  his  person,  and 
the  discourses  he  made  to  the  people,  and  what  he 
related  of  his  intercourse  with  St.  John,  and  the  rest 

2  He  is  called  a  presbyter  by  S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  c.  53  ;  cp. 
Tillemont,  iii.  p.  200. 


S.  IRENALUS— HIS  REMINISCENCES  OF  S,  POLYCARP.  215 

of  those  who  had  seen  the  Lord,  and  how  he  recorded 
their  sayings,  and  what  things  he  had  heard  from  them 
concerning  the  Lord,  and  concerning  His  miracles  and 
His  teaching;  and  how  Polycarp,  having  received 
things  from  the  Eye-witnesses  of  the  Word,  used  to 
rehearse  them,  all  in  harmony  with  the  Scriptures. 
These  things  I  earnestly  listened  to  at  that  time,  ac- 
cording to  the  mercy  of  God  to  me,  and  I  recorded 
them  not  on  paper  but  in  my  heart,  and  I  am  ever,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  genuinely  ruminating  upon  them. 
And  I  can  testify  in  the  presence  of  God,  that  if  that 
blessed  Apostolic  Presbyter  ^  Polycarp  had  heard  such 
things  as  are  now  broached  by  thee,  he  would  have 
stopped  his  ears,  and  exclaimed  according  to  his  cus- 
tom, '  Good  God,  to  what  times  hast  Thou  kept  me 
alive,  that  I  should  endure  to  hear  such  things  as 
these!'" 

As  we  have  already  seen  (above,  p.  164),  Irenseus 
had  a  copy  of  the  Epistle  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna, 
in  which  the  Martyrdom  of  S.  Polycarp  is  described. 
Irenseus  was  commended  by  the  Church  of  Lyons  to 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  Eleutherus  (Euseb.  v.  4),  and 
was  advanced  to  the  See  of  Lyons  on  the  death  of 
Pothinus  the  Martyr  in  A.D.  177.  Although  he  seems 
to  have  agreed  with  the  Church  of  Rome  as  to  the 
time  of  celebrating  Easter,  yet  he  expostulated  with 
Victor,  Bishop  of  Rome,  for  attempting  to  enforce  that 
practice  on  others,  and  to  excommunicate  the  Asiatic 
Churches  who  did  not  conform  to  the  Roman  rule  for 
its  celebration.'^ 

3  Here  is  an  example  of  what  has  been  before  noticed,  pp.  47,  48, 
that  a  Bishop— especially  in  his  capacity  as  a  doctor  of  the  Church— is 
sometimes  called  Presbyter  by  early  writers. 

4  Euseb.  V.  24 — in  which  Irenaeus  refers  to  the  tolerant  conduct  of  one 
of  Victor's  predecessors,  Anicetus,  to  S.  Polycarp  in  that  matter. 


216  s.  irenje:us—his  refutation  of  heresies^ 

HIS  CHARACTER. 

His  peaceable  spirit,  agreeably  to  his  name  Irenceus — 
pacific — is  further  shown  in  his  prayer  for  the  heretics 
(Iren.  iii.  46  ;  cp.  ii.  22). 

His  work  entitled  "  A  Refutation  and  Overthrow 
of  the  Knowledge  falsely  so  called,"  in  five  books,  was 
written  about  A.D.  184.*  A  considerable  part  of  the 
original  Greek  is  lost,  but  supplied  by  means  of  an  old 
Latin  Version  ;  and  the  recently-discovered  work  of 
S.  Hippolytus,  scholar  of  Irenaeus,  on  all  heresies  has 
enabled  the  Editors  to  make  further  restorations  in 
it.« 

It  has  been  well  observed  that  S.  Irenaeus,  who  had 
been  educated  in  Asia  Minor  in  the  School  of  disci- 
ples of  St.  John,  and  was  translated  to  the  West,  is  a 
connecting  link  between  the  Churches  of  Asia  and 
Rome  (Neander,  ii.  135). 

Distinguished  as  he  was  for  the  practical  sobriety 
of  a  well-regulated  Christian  spirit,  endued  with 
sound  judgment  and  discriminating  tact  in  determin- 
ing what  was  essential ;  profoundly  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  the  grandeur  of  God's  works,  and  of  the 
limited  compass  of  human  understanding ;  deeply 
versed  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  a  faithful  witness  of 
Primitive  Tradition,  he  was  admirably  qualified  to 
confound  the  arrogant  pretensions  and  wild  specula- 
tions of  Gnosticism. 

Irenseus  begins  his  work  with  an  address  to  a  friend, 
and  reminds  him  that  the  words  of  St.  Paul  (i  Tim. 
i.  4}  are:  verified  by  the  teaching  of  the  Gnostics, 
especially  of  Valentinus,  who  promulgated  "fables  and 

^  Cp.  Iren.  iii.  3,  written  in  the  pontificate  of  Eleutherus,  which  was, 
probably,  from  A.D.  177  to  189.  They  were  not  all  published  at  once  ; 
the  first  two  were  published  first ;  see  Preface  to  Book  iii. 

^  This  has  been  done  in  the  Edition  of  Irenaeus  by  the  Rev.  W.  Wigan 
Harvey,  B.D.,  Cambridge,  1857. 


S.  IRENJEUS—HIS  WORK.  217 

endless  genealogies  "  (i.  e.  of  ^ons)  which  ministered 
"  questions  rather  than  godly  edifying  that  is  in  faith," 
and  led  away  many  captive,  corrupting  the  oracles  of 
the  Lord ;  and  who  were  evil  interpreters  of  words 
which  were  spoken  well,  and  ensnared  many  by  a  pre- 
tence of  knowledge  communicated  by  Him  Who  had 
constituted  and  adorned  the  Universe  ;  and  pre- 
tended that  they  had  something  higher  and  greater  to 
reveal  than  the  God  Who  made  the  heaven  and  earth 
and  all  things  therein,  and  thus  destroyed  many 
by  venting  blasphemies  and  impieties  against  the 
Creator. 

He  proceeds  to  show  the  need  of  some  touchstone 
and  criterion  whereby  to  test  error  and  discriminate  it 
from  the  truth  ;  and  therefore,  having  read  the  com- 
mentaries of  the  disciples  of  Valentinus,  and  having 
had  conferences  with  some  of  them,  he  has  thought  it 
necessary  to  unfold  to  his  friend  their  portentous  and 
profound  mysteries,  which  they  say  all  men  cannot 
receive  because  all  have  not  their  brains  sifted  ;  ^  in 
order  that  he  may  be  able  to  guard  others  from  falling 
into  their  folly  and  blasphemy  of  Christ. 

He  then  apologizes  modestly  for  the  rudeness  of 
his  Greek  style,  which  is  due,  he  says,  to  long  residence 
in  Gaul  ;  and  he  requests  his  friend  to  accept  what  he 
has  written  with  simplicity  in  compliance  with  his 
desire,  and  to  enable  it,  by  his  own  superior  intellec- 
tual capacity,  to  bear  fruit  abundantly  to  God. 

In  the  first  chapter,^  which  is  a  long  one,  he  gives  a 
detailed  description  of  the  system  of  Valentinus. 

^  On  the  reading  of  the  text  here,  which  appears  to  be  corrupt,  a 
conjecture  has  been  offered  in  my  work  on  Hippolytus,  p.  217,  note, 
2nd  ed. 

^  I  refer  to  Grabe's  edition,  the  chapters  of  which  are  noted  in  the 
margin  of  other  editions,  of  Stieren  and  Harvey. 


218  THE  ANCIENT  CREED  OF  THE  CA  THOLIC  CHURCH 

This  chapter,  in  its  old  Latin  Version,  was  used  by 
TertulHan,  and  forms  the  substance  of  his  work  against 
Valentinus.  We  have  already  profited  by  it  in  the 
foregoing  account  of  his  system  (above,  chap.  xvi.). 

But,  says  Irenseus,  the  believer  who  retains  the 
unalterable  Ride  of  Faith,  which  he  has  received  at 
his  Baptism,  will  not  accept  the  counterfeit  for  the 
true ;  and  he  therefore  proceeds  to  set  down  the 
Ancient  Creed  diS  held  and  professed  by  the  Catholic 
Church. 

"The  Church,"  he  says  (i.  2),  "  although  disseminated 
throughout  the  world  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  holds 
one  and  the  same  Faith,  which  she  has  received  from 
the  Apostles  and  their  disciples.  She  believes  in  One 
God,  the  Father  Almighty,  the  Maker  of  Heaven  and 
Earth,  and  of  the  Seas,  and  of  all  things  therein  ;  and 
in  One  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  Who  took  our 
flesh,  for  our  salvation  ;  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who 
spake  by  the  Prophets,  and  foretold  the  Incarnation 
and  the  Advents  of  the  Beloved,  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord,  and  His  Birth  from  a  Virgin,  and  Passion,  and 
Resurrection  from  the  Dead,  and  Ascension  into 
heaven  in  our  flesh,  and  His  Second  Coming  from 
Heaven  in  the  glory  of  the  Father  to  sum  up  all 
things  in  Himself  (Eph.  i.  10),  and  to  raise  all  flesh 
of  all  mankind,  in  order  that  every  knee,  of  things  in 
heaven  and  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  may  bow  to 
Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord  God,  Saviour  and  King  (Phil, 
ii.  10),  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father 
Who  is  invisible,  and  that  every  tongue  may  confess 
Him,  and  that  He  may  execute  just  Judgment  upon 
all,  and  that  He  may  send  into  everlasting  fire  the 
spiritual  Powers  of  wickedness,  and  the  rebel  Angels, 
and  those  among  men  who  have  become  apostates  from 


THE  ANCIENT  CREED  OF  THE  CHURCH  UNIVERSAL.  219 

Him,  and  the  impious,  and  unjust  and  lawless  ;  and 
^\WQ  Immortality  and  eternal  Glory,  and  freely  grant 
Life  to  the  righteous  and  holy,  and  to  those  who  have 
kept  His  commandments,  and  have  continued  in  His 
love  from  the  beginning,  and  also  to  those  who  have 
repented  of  their  sins." 

"  The  Church,"  he  adds,  "  although  disseminated  in 
all  the  world,  having  received  this  Gospel  preached  to 
her,  and  this  Faith,  carefully  preserves  it,  as  if  she 
dwelt  in  one  and  the  same  house  ;  and  believes  these 
truths  uniformly,  as  having  one  mind  and  the  same 
heart ;  and  she  harmoniously  teaches  them,  as  having 
one  mouth. 

"Languages  in  the  world  are  divers,  but  the 
authority  of  her  Tradition  is  one  and  the  same.  The 
Churches  in  Germany  have  no  other  Faith  or  Tradition 
(than  this) ;  nor  those  in  Spain,  nor  those  in  Gaul,  nor 
those  in  the  East,  nor  those  in  Egypt,  nor  those  in 
Libya,  nor  those  in  the  central  parts  of  the  earth. 
But,  as  the  Sun,  created  by  God,  is  one  and  the  same 
in  all  the  world,  so  the  Word  of  Truth  preached  by 
her  shines  everywhere  and  enlightens  all  men  who 
desire  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  ;  nor 
will  the  most  eloquent  man  of  those  who  preside  in 
our  Churches  speak  anything  other  than  this,  for  no 
one  is  above  his  Master  (Matt.  x.  24)  ;  nor  will  the 
weak  in  speech  minish  aught  from  that  which  has 
been  delivered.  There  is  one  Faith.  The  man  who 
is  able  to  say  much  doth  not  superabound,  and  he  who 
can  say  little  hath  no  lack." 

After  wading  through  the  troubled  waters  of  heresy  in 
the  second  century,  it  is  refreshing  to  come  to  a  peaceful 
harbour,  and  to  plant  the  feet  on  firm  ground,  and  to 
hear  such  words  as  these   from  the  lips  of  Irenaeus, 


220  DEVIATIONS  FROM  IT— IN  FAITH  AND  MORAIS. 

Bishop  of  Lyons,  the  friend  and  pupil  of  S.  Polycarp, 
the  scholar  of  the  beloved  disciple  St.  John,  who  leaned 
at  supper  on  the  breast  cf  Christ,  and  drank  divine 
wisdom  from  His  mouth.  And  it  affords  no  small 
spiritual  comfort  to  find  that  this  form  of  sound  words 
which  is  deliberately  set  down  by  the  hand  of  Irenaeus, 
as  the  clear  and  full  profession  of  faith  in  the  second 
century,  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  what  is  now 
professed  among  ourselves  in  the  Church  of  England 
in  the  nineteenth  century ;  and  that  the  Anglican  and 
American  Churches,  at  the  present  day,  may  join  in 
saying  Amen,  with  one  heart  and  voice,  to  the  Creed 
of  Irenaeus. 

The  deviations  from  this  ancient  Catholic  Faith  are 
then  mentioned  by  him,  as  exemplified  in  the  systems 
of  Valentinus  and  his  disciples,  who,  says  Irenaeus,  are 
not  consistent  with  one  another  (c.  5,  6)  ;  and  he 
narrates  what  the  mode  of  living,  produced  by  their 
teaching,  is  (c.  8,  9)  ;  and  how  they  ground  that  teach- 
ing on  speculations  about  numbers  and  figures  (c.  10, 
II,  12),  and  misapply  our  Lord's  Parables,  and  the 
Old  Testament,  and  the  New,  and  teach  a  system  of 
Redemption  invented  by  themselves  (c.  18). 

In  chapter  19  he  makes  a  pause,  and  reviewing 
what  he  has  stated,  says,  in  opposition  to  those 
heresies,  "We  hold  the  rule  of  Truth,  that  there  is 
One  God,  Almighty,  Who  made  all  things  by  His 
Word,  and  compacted  them,  and  created  them  of 
that  which  before  did  not  exist."  Advertin^r  to  the 
Gnostic  theories,  he  says,  that  God  made  all  these 
things,  not  by  means  of  Angels,  not  by  any  other 
Powers,  but  by  His  own  Word  and  Spirit.  He 
Who  created  Man,  is  the  same  God  as  the  God  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  above  Whom  there  is  no 


SUMMAR  V  OF  EARL  V  HERESIES.  221 

other  God,  nor  beginning,  nor  pleroma  ;  He  is  the 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesu  Christ.  "  This  Rule  of  Faith 
we  hold  and  maintain  against  all  heresies,  most  of 
which  profess  indeed  by  words  to  believe  in  One  God, 
but  pervert  that  doctrine,  and  are  ungrateful  to  the 
Creator,  and  despise  His  creation.  But  they  will  be 
raised  in  their  bodies,  and  then  be  constrained  to 
acknowledge  His  power,  and  will  not  be  numbered 
among  the  righteous." 

He  then  proceeds  in  his  enumeration  and  description 
of  heresies,  promulgated  by  Simon  Magus  (c.  20), 
Menander  (c.  21),  Saturnimcs  (c.  22),  Basilides  (c.  23), 
Carpocrates  (c.  24),  Cerinthus  (c.  25),  the  Ebionites 
(c.  26),  the  Nicolaitans  (c.  27),  by  Cerdon  and  by  his 
scholar  Marcion  (c.  28,  29),  the  Encratites  and  Tatian 
their  Master  (c.  30,  31),  and  by  those,  who,  following 
Basilides  and  Carpocrates,  taught  that  all  actions  were 
indifferent  (i.  e.  not  sinful),  such  as  Polygamy,  and 
incestuous  Marriages,  and  eating  of  things  offered  to 
Idols  (c.  32) ;  and  by  other  Gnostics  with  various  names 
(c.  33,  34).     Finally,  by  the  Ophites  and  Cainites  (c.  35).^ 

In  the  Second  Book  he  proceeds  to  refute  the 
theories  of  ValentiniLs  on  the  difference  between  the 
God  of  the  Universe  and  the  Creator,  and  between 
both  and  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  to 
show  that  the  Highest  God  was  not  unknown,  but  was 
worshipped  by  Angels,  some  of  whom  were  expelled 
from  heaven  by  Him  ;  and  he  explodes  the  Platonic 
theory  of  a  creation  from  pre-existent  ideas  (c.  I — 9)  ; 
he  exposes  the  inconsistencies  in  the  Valentinian  sys- 
tem, especially  in   their  doctrine  of  Emanations  (by 

^  The  original  Greek  of  portions  of  these  Chapters  from  Chap.  xx. 
has  been  restored  from  the  recently-discovered  work  of  S.  Hippolytus, 
and  may  be  seen  in  Mr.  Harvey's  edition. 


222        AGE  OF  OUR  LORD-INTERPRETATION  OF 
SCRIPTURE. 

JEons),  and  in  the  arguments  by  which  they  support . 
that  system,  and  their  false  interpretations  of  Scrip- 
ture, especially  of  our  Lord's  Parables,  and  of  their 
arbitrary  use  of  numbers  (c.  lo — 43). 

In  chapter  39  he  states  his  opinion  that  our  Lord 
was  baptized  when  He  was  thirty  years  of  age,  and 
that  He  passed  through  every  age  of  man,  sanctifying 
every  age ;  and  he  asserts  as  a  tradition  that  He 
remained  upon  earth  till  He  was  fifty  years  of  age. 

This  mistake  of  Irenseus  shows  the  uncertainty  of 
oral  Tradition,  unless  guaranteed  by  Holy  Scripture, 
or  by  some  received  usage  of  the  Church.  It  reminds 
us  that  we  have  reason  to  be  thankful  that  the  facts 
and  doctrines  of  Christianity  were  not  left  to  be  handed 
down  from  mouth  to  mouth,  but  have  been  recorded 
in  the  pages  of  Holy  Writ  by  the  hand  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God. 

In  chapter  46  are  some  wise  remarks  on  the  duty  of 
expounding  Parables  and  Prophecies  according  to 
"  the  proportion  of  faith,"  and  not  according  to  arbi- 
trary preconceived  notions. 

In  chapter  49  he  explains  our  Lord's  saying  that 
the  last  Day  was  known  only  to  the  Father  (see  on 
Mark  xiii.  32). 

In  chapters  50,  51,  he  shows  the  reasonableness  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  of  the  body,  as  well  as  of 
the  Immortality  of  the  soul ;  and  the  unreasonableness 
of  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  of  souls  (c.  58,  62). 

In  chapter  56  he  contrasts  the  immorality  of  the 
Gnostics  with  the  moral  virtues  taught  by  the  Gospel, 
especially  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  practised 
in  the  lives  of  faithful  Christians  ;  and  he  shows  that 
our  Lord's  moral  and  spiritual  teaching  was  confirmed 
by   His  Miracles  of  might  and    mercy,  such  as  no 


CHRIST'S  MIRACLES— THE  APOSTLES  AND       223 
EVANGELISTS. 

Teacher  of  heresy  has  ever  been  able  to  work.     Christ 

not  only  wrought  miracles,  but  enabled  His  Apostles 

to  work  them  ;  and  some  miracles  (Irenseus  says)  were 

still  performed  by  the  power  of  Christ  in  the  Church, 

and  in  the  Church  alone  (c.  6y). 

In  his  Preface  to  the  Third  Book,  Irenaeus  says  that 
in  the  two  former  he  had  displayed  the  succession  of 
Heretics  from  Simon  Magus,  and  their  doctrines,  and 
he  will  now  proceed  to  show  from  Holy  Scripture 
that  their  doctrines  are  repugnant  to  that  one,  true, 
life-giving  Faith  which  the  Church  has  received  from 
the  Apostles,  and  they  from  Christ,  and  which  she 
delivers  to  her  children. 

He  then  says,  "We  have  not  received  the  dispensa- 
tion of  our  salvation  from  any  others  than  those  from 
whom  the  Gospel  has  come  to  us.  We  are  not,  as  the 
heretics  profess  to  be,  wiser  than  the  Apostles.  After 
our  Lord  rose  from  the  dead,  and  they  were  endued 
with  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  coming  down  from 
heaven,  they  were  filled  with  all  wisdom  in  all  things, 
and  received  perfect  knowledge,  and  went  forth  into 
the  ends  of  the  Earth,  preaching  the  good  things  we 
have  from  God,  and  announcing  heavenly  peace  to 
all." 

S.  Irenaeus  knew  nothing  of  the  "  Development  of 
Christian  Doctrine."  Such  a  system  is  characteristic 
of  Gnosticism  rather  than  of  the  Primitive  Church. 

He  then  specifies  the  origin  and  chronology  of  the 
composition  of  the  Four  Gospels,  of  St.  Matthew, 
St.  Mark,  St.  Luke,  and  St.  John,  showing  that  these 
four  Gospels  and  none  other  were  then  received  by 
the  Church,  as  true  and  divinely-inspired  narratives  of 
the  Life  and  Ministry  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ. 


224    ONE  GOD  IN  BOTH  TESTAMENTS— APOSTOLIC 
SUCCESSION. 

"All  these,"  he  adds,  "have  delivered  to  us  that 
there  is  One  God  Who  is  the  Maker  of  heaven  and 
earth,  and  is  revealed  in  the  Law  and  Prophets  ;  and 
One  Christ  the  Son  of  God.  Whoever  does  not 
hearken  to  them,  despises  Christ  the  Lord ;  he  despises 
the  Father,  and  is  self-condemned,  resisting  his  own 
salvation  ;  and  this  is  what  all  heretics  do." 

Heretics  (he  says,  cap.  2),  when  refuted  from 
Scripture,  fly  to  Tradition  ;  and  when  convicted  from 
Tradition,  they  allege  that  they  themselves  are  wiser 
than  the  Apostles,  and  that  our  Lord  was  not  consis- 
tent with  Himself,  sometimes  speaking  from  the 
Creator,  sometimes  from  what  was  intermediate,  and 
sometimes  from  the  highest  Power  of  all ;  and  that 
they  themselves  are  the  only  persons  who  have  unerr- 
ing and  clear  knowledge  of  the  Mystery. 

In  chapter  3  he  goes  on  to  say  that  they  who 
desire  to  know  the  Apostolic  tradition  manifested  in 
all  the  world,  may  find  it  in  every  Church.  We  are 
able,  he  says,  to  enumerate  those  who  were  ordained 
Bishops  in  the  Churches  by  the  Apostles,  and  to 
specify  their  successors  even  to  our  own  day.  These 
did  not  teach  any  such  things  as  are  now  put  forth, 
like  delirious  dreams,  by  these  men,  nor  did  they  know 
any  such  things.  If  the  Apostles  had  known  any 
hidden  mysteries,  they  would  certainly  have  com- 
municated them  to  those  persons  to  whose  charge 
they  committed  the  Churches.  But  inasmuch  as  it 
would  be  tedious  in  such  a  work  as  the  present  to 
enumerate  the  successions  of  all  the  Churches,  I  will 
indicate  the  tradition  received  from  the  Apostles,  and 
the  faith  preached  to  men,  which  is  held  by  the 
greatest  and  most  ancient  Church,  and  one  which  is 
known  to  all,  and   was   founded  and  established   at 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME  CHOSEN  AS  A  SAMPLE  OF  225 
OTHERS,  AS  A  REFEREE. 

Rome  by  the  two  most  glorious  Apostles,  Peter  and 
Paul ;  a  tradition  and  faith  which  has  come  down  to 
us  through  a  succession  of  Bishops  (of  that  See)  ;  and 
then  we  can  refute  all  those  who  by  any  means, 
whether  by  evil  self-complacency,  or  vain-glory,  or 
blindness,  or  perverse  opinion,  gather  together  followers 
otherwise  than  is  fit.  For  it  is  certain  that  all 
Churches  (that  is,  believers  on  every  side)  agree 
with  this  Church,  on  account  of  its  more  august 
antiquity ;  in  which  Church  the  tradition  which  is 
from  the  Apostles  has  been  preserved  by  those  who 
are  on  every  side. 

Irenaeus  means  here  to  say,  that  it  would  be  super- 
fluous for  him  to  'do,  what  would  be  irksome  to  do, 
namely,  to  refer  singly  and  seriatim"  to  all  Chicrches^ 
and  that  virtually  by  referring  to  one  Church,  the 
Church  of  Rome,  as  a  sample  of  the  rest,  he  does  by 
implication  appeal  to  all  Churches  which  may  be 
presumed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  agree  with  her.^ 

He  then  enumerates  the  succession  of  Bishops  in 
the  Church  of  Rome  from  the  time  of  the  Apostles 
to  his  own.;  and  affirms  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
does  not  teach  what  the  heretics  do,  but  what  he  has 
declared  to  be  the  Truth.  He  does  not,  however,  rest 
on  the  tradition  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  also 
refers  to  his  own  master  S.  Polycarp,  Bishop  of 
Smyrna,  who  had  conversed  with  the  Apostles  and 
with  many  who  had  seen  the  Lord,  and  he  says  that 
he  in  his  early  years  had  seen  Polycarp,  and  that 
Polycarp  lived  to  a  very  great  age,  and  was  a  glorious 

^  That  this  is  the  meaning  of  this  important  passage,  the  sense  of  which 
has  been  misrepresented,  I  have  endeavoured  to  show  in  my  work  on 
Hippolytus,  pp.  281—291.  The  argument  of  Irenseus  is  (as  there  said) 
to  be  illustrated  from  a  like  passage  in  TertuUian, 

Q 


226    ST.   JOHN  AND  CERINTHUS ;  POLYCARP  AND 
MARCION—THE  GOSPELS. 

Martyr  for  the  truth,  and  that  he  taught  what  he  had 

received  from  the  Apostles,  and  what  the  Church  now 

deHvers  to  the   faithful.     Polycarp,    he  adds,  was    a 

more  credible  witness  than  Valentinus  and  Marcion. 

And  he   relates  an  anecdote,  narrated  by  Polycarp, 

that  when  St.  John  at  Ephesus  was  going  to  a  bath, 

and    heard    that  Cerinthus,  who    denied    our    Lord's 

Divinity,  was  there,  he  said,  "  Let  us  flee  hence,  lest 

the  bath  fall  on  our  heads,  now  that  Cerinthus,  the 

enemy  of  the  truth,  is  in  it."     He   relates  also  what 

Polycarp  himself  said  to  Marcion,  who  asked,  "  Dost 

thou  not  know  me  } "  "  Yes,  I  know  thee,  the  first-born 

of  Satan."  '    Polycarp,  he    adds,  wrote   an    excellent 

Epistle  to' the  Philippians  (still  extant;  above,  p.  158), 

in  which  they  who  desire  it  may  see  what  his  faith 

and  teaching  of  the  truth  were. 

He  then  shows  (c.  4)  the  comparative  lateness  of 
heresy,  and  declares  what  Christ  and  His  Apostles 
had  themselves  delivered  to  their  hearers  (c.  5),  and 
that  no  other  God  is  acknowledged  in  the  Scriptures 
but  the  One  God  the  Father  of  all,  and  His  Word. 

In  chapter  1 1  he  describes  the  four  Gospels,  and 
compares  them  to  the  Living  Creatures  in  Ezekiel 
(Ezek.  i.  5  ;  X.  8,  15),  and  in  the  Apocalypse  (iv.  7), 
and  shows  how  those  Living  Creatures  symbolize  the 
Gospels  respectively. 

He  refutes  those  who  alleged  that  there  was  a 
discrepancy  between  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul  and  the 
other  Apostles. 

In  chapter  14  he  dwells  specially  on  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  the  companion  of 
St.  Paul, — a  chapter  which  shows  careful  and  discrimi- 
nating study  of  it,  and  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

This  early  testimony  of  Irenaeus  to  the  existence 


•  THE  GOSPELS— PROPHECIES  CONCERNING       227 
CHRIST. 

and  general  reception  of  the  Four  Gospels  (of  St. 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John),  and  of  those  four 
Gospels  only  as  the  divinely-inspired  record  of  our 
Lord's  words,  works,  and  sufferings,  may  be  accom- 
panied with  a  similar  declaration  from  the  ancient 
Martyrs  of  Carthage  (a.d.  200)  on  their  divine  inspira- 
tion and  canonicity.  In  answer  to  the  question  of  the 
Proconsul,  "  What  are  the  books,  which,  when  reading 
them,  you  adore  ? "  their  answer  was,  "  The  Four 
Gospels  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Fpistles  of 
the  Holy  Apostle  St,  Paul  are  all  divinely-inspired 
Script?  ire? 

.  To  return  to  Irenaeus.  He  proceeds  to  speak  of  the 
One  Person  and  Two  Natures  of  Christ  (c.  17,  18). 
He  states  the  reason  and  reality  of  the  Incarnation 
and  Passion  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  of  the  Atone- 
ment for  men.^ 

He  says  that  by  denying  these  truths,  the  Gnostics 
discourage  Martyrdom. 

He  vindicates  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  (vii.  14),  and 
shows  that  the  Septuagint  rendering,  adopted  by 
St.  Matthew,  97  '7rap6evo<;,  the  Virgin,  is  accurate  (c.  24, 
26,  32),  and  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  by  her  obedience 
was  the  antithesis  of  Eve,  as  Christ  was  of  Adam 
(cp.  V.  19  and  v.  23)  ;  and  explains  why  St.  Luke  in 
his  Gospel  connects  Christ's  Genealogy  with  His 
Baptism  (c.  33).  He  confutes  Tatian,  who  denied  the 
salvation  of  Adam  (c.  34 — 39). 

In  chapter  40  he  again  pauses  for  a  while,  and 
declares  the  sin  of  those,  who,  as  the  heretics  did, 
make   a  wilful    schism  in    the   Church,  which  is  the 

2  Ruinart,  Acta  Martyrum  sincera,  ed.  2da,  p.  87. 

3  The   text   here   has    "pro   patribus."    Ought  it  not   to  be  "pro 
fratribus,"  for  His  brethren  ? 

2Q 


228  SmFULNESS  OF  HERESY  AND  SCHISM. 

depository  and  witness  of  the  true  doctrine  received 
from  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  and  in  which  is 
communion  with  Christ  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  the 
confirmation  of  our  faith,  the  earnest  of  our  incorruption, 
and  the  ladder  of  our  ascent  to  God  ;  of  which  Spirit 
none  are  partakers  who  do  not  resort  to  the  Church, 
but  defraud  themselves  of  life  by  perverse  opinions 
and  evil  works.  For  where  the  Church  is,  he  adds, 
there  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  where  the  Spirit  of 
God  is,-  there  is  all  grace,  and  the  Spirit  is  truth. 
Therefore  they  who  do  not  partake  of  the  Spirit  are 
neither  fed  from  the  breasts  of  their  Mother  the  Church 
unto  life,  nor  drink  of  the  pure  fountain  that  flows 
from  the  Body  of  Christ,  but  hew  out  for  themselves 
broken  cisterns  (Jer.  ii.  13)  in  earthly  ditches,  and 
drink  putrid  water  from  the  mire,  shunning  the  faith 
of  the  Church  lest  they  be  detected,  and  rejecting  the 
Spirit  lest  they  should  be  instructed.  And  being 
estranged  from  the  Truth,  they  wallow  in  all  error, 
and  are  tossed  to  and  fro  in  a  continual  change,  and 
have  no  stability  of  knowledge,  and  do  not  build  on 
the  one  Rock,  but  on  the  sand  (cp.  iv.  62).  He  ends 
this  book  with  a  prayer  for  heretics. 

In  the  Preface  to  the  Fourth  Book  he  condemns 
the  heresy  of  Valentinus,  who  said  that  the  Demiurge 
or  Creator  proceeded  from  what  is  called  an  varepijfjba, 
"  /ades,"  "  defectio,"  or  flaw  ;  and  shows  that  our  Lord 
acknowledged  only  one  God  and  Father,  and  that  this 
God  and  Father  was  proclaimed  by  Moses  and  the 
Prophets,  and  was  believed  in  by  Abraham,  whose  faith 
was  directed  to  the  same  object  as  ours  (c.  2,  3,  1 1 — 
13,  15,  16,  21,  23  ;  cp.  iv.  38),  and  who  will  be  saved  by 
the  same  Christ  as  we  are  (c.  18). 

He  shows  that  Christ  confirmed  the  moral  precepts 


THE  HOLY  EUCHARIST.  229 

of  the  Law  (which  are  of  perpetual  obligation),  and 
that  its  ceremonies  were  manuductory  to  Christ,  and 
were  fulfilled  in  Him  (c.  26—30,  31);  and  (c.  32)  that 
even  under  the  Levitical  Law,  God  declared  that  He 
preferred  what  was  moral  to  what  was  ceremonial,  and 
would  ''  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice  "  (Hos.  vi.  6). 

He  presents  to  the  reader  a  very  instructive  and 
interesting  view  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  He  shows  in 
chapter  32  the  divine  origin  of  Creation,  in  that  under 
the  Gospel  (according  to  the  prophecy  of  Malachi,  i.  10) 
Christ  commands  us  to  offer  in  the  Bread  and  Wine 
of  the  Holy  Eucharist  an  oblation  of  the  firstfruits 
and  representatives  of  God's  creatures  to  be  conse- 
crated afterwards  to  be  means  of  Holy  Communion 
with  Himself  (cp.  c.  34;  v.  c.  2;  and  see  above,  p.  60). 

In  chapter  34  he  declares  that  the  acceptability 
of  all  sacrifice  depends  on  the  heart  of  the  offerer  ; 
and  that  the  Church  by  offering  God's  creatures  with 
thanksgiving  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  offers  a  "pure 
sacrifice  "  to  Him  ;  and  that  Heretics  who  do  not 
acknowledge  Christ  to  be  the  Son  of  the  Creator  can- 
not really  participate  in  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  His 
Body  and  Blood  ;  and  that  they  who  deny  the 
Resurrection  of  the  Body  cannot  believe  that  the  body 
is  there  nourished  by  Communion  with  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ/ 

But  the  Church  believes  that  after  Consecration 
the  earthly  Bread  is  no  longer  only  Bread,  but  becomes 

-*  The  Church  of  England  in  her  office  for  the  Holy  Communion 
recognizes  this  truth,  "  The  Body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was 
given  for  thee,  preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life,"  and  so 
in  the  ministration  of  the  Cup;  and  thus  recognizes  the  truth  declared  in 
our  Lord's  words,  "  He  that  eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh  My  blood 
hath  eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  (i.e.  as  to  his  body)  at  the  last 
day  "  (John  vi.  54). 


230     ITS  EFFECTS— THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES,  AND 
THEIR  MINISTRY. 

the  Eucharist,  consisting  of  two  parts,  an  earthly  and 
heavenly,  and  teaches  that  our  bodies,  by  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  are  no  longer  corruptible, 
but  have  a  hope  of  a  blessed  resurrection  and  a  glorious 
immortality  °  (compare  v.  2). 

In  chapter  37  he  describes  the  future  glory  of  Christ's 
Kingdom  as  revealed  by  the  Prophets  Ezekiel  and 
Daniel,  and  by  the  Apostle  and  Evangelist  St.  John  in 
the  Apocalypse,  and  the  Universality  of  His  Church, 
espoused  to  Him  as  a  Bride  from  the  Gentiles,  and 
typified  by  Rahab  of  Jericho,  and  by  Rachel  from 
Mesopotamia. 

In  chapter  43  he  declares  that  the  true  interpretation 
of  Scripture  (he  means  as  to  articles  of  faith)  is  to  be 
had  only  in  the  Christian  Church  ;  and  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  all  to  hearken  to  those  in  the  Church  who  have 
a  ministerial  succession  from  the  Apostles,  and  have 
also  the  grace  of  true  doctrine.  He  says  that  heretics 
are  like  Nadab  and  Abihu,  who  offered  false  fire  on 
God's  altar  (Levit  x.  i) ;  and  that  those  who  rise  up 
against  the  Church  are  like  Korah,  Dathan,  and 
Abiram  (Num.  xvi.  16);  and  that  they  who  make 
schisms  in  it  will  be  punished  with  Jeroboam.  He 
also  (c.  44)  declares  the  penalty  due  to  vicious  priests, 
and  (c.  45)  that  three  things  are  needful  in  a  Teacher 
of  the  Church,  namely.  Apostolic  Succession,  sound 
Doctrine,  holiness  of  life. 

In  chapters  48  and  49,  he  refutes  the  objections 
derived  from  the  hardening  of  Pharaoh's  heart,  and  the 
spoiling  of  the  Egyptians  by  the  Israelites. 

As  to  the  sins    of  the  Patriarchs  he  interposes  a 

5  If  the  bread  were  carnally  transubstantiated  into  Christ's  Body,  this 
argument  would  fail ;  and  our  body  would  lose  its  identity  at  the 
Resurrection.  Cp.  above,  p.  61,  the  passages  from  Gelasius  and  Theodoret. 


FAITH  OF  THE  PROPHETS— RESURRECTION     231 
OF  THE  BODY. 

caution  (c.  50,  51),  that  we  are  not  hastily  to  condemn, 

but  to  search  for  a  spiritual  meaning. 

In  chapter  56  he  declares  that  two  Advents  of  Christ 
were  foretold  by  the  Prophets,  and  that  in  His  Second 
Advent  in  glory,  He  will  pronounce  judgment  on 
heresiarchs  and  their  adherents  (c.  57 — 62). 

He  asserts  that  the  Church  alone  has  genuine 
gnosis,  and  perfect  charity,  and  the  indwelling  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  (c.  63,  64)  ;  and  that  the  Prophets  were 
members  of  Christ,  and  that  He  fulfilled  what  they 
foretold  (c.  ^^.^j).  He  asserts  the  freedom  of  the 
human  will  (c  71,  72),  and  that  man's  true  life  depends 
on  obedience  to  God's  law  (c.  j6). 

In  the  Preface  to  the  Fifth  Book  he  recapitulates 
what  had  been  said  in  the  former  ;  he  asserts  that 
Abraham  saw  Christ  by  faith,  that  Christ  took  a  real 
body  from  the  flesh  of  the  Virgin  by  the  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  He  makes  us  partakers  of 
that  Body  and  Blood  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  (c.  i  and  2  ; 
cp.  iv.  34). 

In  chapter  5  he  illustrates  God's  power  in  giving  im- 
mortality to  the  body,  from  the  longevity  of  the  Patri- 
archs, and  from  the  translation  of  Enoch  and  Elias, 
and  in  the  preservation  of  Jonah  in  the  whale's  belly, 
and  of  the  three  Children  in  the  fiery  furnace  at  Baby- 
lort  ;  and  also  in  the  Incarnation  and  Resurrection  of 
Christ  (c.  7  and  13),  and  of  Lazarus  and  of  others  who 
were  raised  from  the  dead  by  Christ. 

In  chapter  9  he  explains  the  meaning  of  the  text, 
"  Flesh  and.  Blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  " 
(see  on  i  Cor.  xv.  50). 

He  declares  (c.  15)  that  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel  foretold 
the  Resurrection  of  the  body. 

He  repeats  (c.  20)   that  only  those  Teachers  are 


232  CHRIST  THE  SECOND' ADAM-THE  ''LAST  THINGS" 
—INTERMEDIATE  STATE. 

to  be  listened  to,  who  by  Apostolic  succession  have 
the  charge  of  the  Churches,  and  who  teach  Apostolic 
doctrine.  The  Church  is  the  seven-branched  Candle- 
stick illuminating  the  world,  and  Christ  is  the  Head  of 
all  things  (c.  21). 

He  contrasts  the  Fall  of  Adam,  when  tempted  by 
Satan  in  Paradise,  with  the  Victory  of  Christ,  the 
Second  Adam,  when  tempted  by  Satan  in  the  wilder- 
ness. Adam  fell  by  disobedience  to  God's  word. 
Christ,  when  He  was  tempted  by  Satan,  repelled  him 
by  sayings  from  God's  Word  (the  Book  of  Deutero- 
nomy), and  stood  firm,  and  vanquished  the  Enemy. 

Adam  was  created  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  week, 
and  fell,  and  died,  and  brought  death  into  the  world. 
Christ  died  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  week,  and  rose 
again,  and  saved  the  World  (c.  23). 

He  describes  the  appearance,  and  working,  and 
number,  and  name  of  Antichrist  (c.  25,  28,  29,  30).  He 
inclines  to  the  word  AATEIN02  as  representing  his 
number,  because  the  last  of  the  Four  Monarchies 
of  Daniel  is  Latin  ;  but  thinks  it  better  to  wait 
patiently  till  the  prophecy  is  interpreted  by  the  event. 
He  says  that  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John  was 
written  at  the  close  of  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Domitian  (a.D.  94  or  95). 

The  dissolution  of  the  Roman  Empire  will  be  the 
signal  for  the  appearance  of  the  Man  of  Sin  (2  Thess. 
ii.  2).  He  describes  the  future  Judgment,  the  con- 
summation of  all  things  (c.  28),  and  seems  to  think 
that  the  world,  which  was  created  in  six  days,  will  last 
6000  years. 

The  intermediate  state  of  the  soul  between  Death 
and  Resurrection  (c.  31);  the  Resurrection  of  every 
one  in  his  own  body  (c.  32),  are  described. 


S.  IREN^US— CONCLUSION  OF  HIS  WORK.         233 

The  Millennial  reign  of  Christ  upon  earth  ^  is 
described  (c.  34,  35)  ;  after  which  will  be,  he  says,  the 
General  Resurrection  and  Universal  Judgment. 

Having  referred  to  testimonies  from  Holy  Scripture, 
he  concludes  by  saying, "  In  all  these  the  same  God  the 
Father  is  manifested.  Who  created  Man,  and  promised 
an  inheritance  to  the  old  Fathers,  and  Who  fulfilled 
His  promise  in  the  Kingdom  of  His  Son,  and  gives  to 
His  Children  in  His  fatherly  love  such  things  as. '  eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  have  they  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man '  (Isa.  Ixiv.  4.  I  Cor.  ii.  9). 
For  there  is  one  Son  Who  performed  the  will  of  the 
Father,  and  one  human  race  in  which 'the  mysteries  of 
God  are  accomplished,  and  by  God's  wisdom  the 
creature  is  perfected  by  being  conformed  to  the  Son, 
and  engrafted  in  Him ;  so  that  the  First-begotten 
Word,  His  offspring,  may  descend  into  His  creature, 
Man,  and  be  received  by  it,  and  that  His  creature 
may  receive  the  Word,  and  ascend  up  to  Him,  and 
surpass  the  Angels,  and  be  made  after  the  image  and 
likeness  of  God."  ' 

^  Compare  Justin  Martyr  c.  Tryphon.  c.  80  and  81  ;  and  S. 
Augustine  de  Civitate  Dei,  xx.  7  ;  and  may  I  be  allowed  to  refer  to  my 
notes  on  the  twentieth  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Revelation  as  to  the 
doctrine  of  a  Millennium? 

^  The  resemblance  of  this  language  of  S.  Irenaeus  to  the  subsequent 
teaching  of  S.  Athanasius  in  his  Treatise  on  the  Incarnation  will  be 
obvious  to  the  reader;  see  below  a  summary  of  it,  chap.  xxvi.  And 
compare  the  "  Epistle  to  Diognetus,"  above,  pp.  107,  108. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 
Defenders  of  the  CJuLvch  against  Heresy — Tertiillia7i. 

The  vehement  and  energetic  Tertullian  was  to 
the  mild  and  gentle,  but  steadfast  Irenseus,  what 
Luther  was  to  Melanchthon.  There  was,  however, 
this  difference:'  Melanchthon,  as  the  saying  was, 
followed  Luther,  as  the  Homeric  Lite  came  after 
Ate.  But  in  the  other  case  it  was  Ate  following 
Lite.  Tertullian  followed  Irenaeus,  and  sometimes 
translates  from  him  ;  as  in  his  treatise  against  Valen- 
tinus  (see  above,  p.  217). 

Tertullian  is  the  most  ancient  of  the  Latin  Fathers  ; 

and  like  many  of  the  best  classical  writers,  he  was  not 

.a  native  of  Rome,  nor  of  Italy.     He  was  probably 

born  in  the  City  which  was  the  ancient  rival  of  Rome, 

— Carthage. 

He  had  much  of  African  fervour  and  fire  in  his  con- 
stitution and  in  his  life  and  style.  He  describes  him- 
self as  "  one  of  the  most  impatient  of  men."  ^  This 
impatience,  perhaps  stimulated  by  laxity  of  discipline 
in  the  Church,  hurried  him  into  schism  ;  the  schism  of 
the  stern,  rigid,  and  enthusiastic  Montanus.  But  in 
contemplating  this  grand,  learned,  ardent,  and  eloquent 
writer,  we  have  more  pleasure  in  regarding  him  as  the 
revered  Master  of  S.  Cyprian,  the  Bishop  and  Martyr 

^  See  his  portrait  drawn  by  himself  in  his  Treatise  de  Patientia,  cap.  I, 
and  his  beautiful  description  of  Patience  as  a  contrast  to  it,  c.  14. 


TERTULLIAN—MONTANISM.  235 

of  Carthage,  than  the  impetuous  follower  of  Montanus, 
the  sectarian  fanatic  of  Phrygia. 

The  errors  of  Montanus  began  to  be  propagated  in 
Phrygia  about  A.D.  177  (Euseb.  v.  3).  Montanus 
represented  himself  as  specially  endued  with  extra- 
ordinary spiritual  gifts,  and  as  specially  privileged  to 
deliver  new  revelations  to  the  Church  from  the  Holy 
Ghost,  or  Paraclete,  promised  by  Christ  Himself;  and 
such  revelations,  he  said,  were  also  imparted  to  his 
female  votaries,  Maximilla  and  Priscilla. 

Montanus  does  not  appear  to  have  held  heretical 
opinions  on  the  fundamental  articles  of  Faith  ^;  and 
he  received  all  the  Old  and  New  Testament ;  but  he 
was  remarkable  for  the  austerity  of  his  disciplinarian 
system,  in  condemning  second  marriages,  in  prescrib- 
ing additional  fasts,  and  especially  in  refusing  absolu- 
tion and  Church  Communion  to  persons  guilty  of 
flagrant  offences,  however  penitent  they  might  be 
(Euseb,  V.  18)  ;  and  he  and  his  followers  separated 
themselves  from  the  Church,  and  formed  a  Schism 
(Euseb.  V.  16). 

It  may  at  first  cause  surprise,  that  a  person  of  Ter- 
tullian's  masculine  intellect  and  definite  Catholic 
teaching  should  have  been  fascinated  and  ensnared 
by  the  extravagant  reveries  and  wild  rhapsodies  of 
Montanus  and  his  female  associates.  But  his  fervid 
temperament,  his  reckless  impetuosity,  and  his 
unwavering  self-confidence,  taken  together  with  ex- 
ternal circumstances,  such  as  laxity  of  Ecclesiastical 
Discipline,  exciting  in  his  feverish  temperament  a 
strong  feeling  of  indignation  and  exasperation,  may 
suffice  to  explain  it.  He  also  regarded  Montanus  as  a 
powerful  ally  raised  up  against  Gnosticism. 

2  See  Hippol.  Ref.  viii.  19  ;  and  my  work  on  Hippolytus,  p.  22. 


236  •     TERTULLIAN—MONTANISM—SPIRITUALISM. 

Bishop  Kaye  (on  Tertullian,  p.  38)  quotes  as  a  parallel 
the  case  of  the  celebrated  Fenelon,  Archbishop  of 
Cambrai,  captivated  by  the  quietistic  mysticism  of 
Madame  Guyon.  And  we  may  point  to  another 
example  of  such  a  psychological  phenomenon  in  one 
of  our  own  most  vigorous  logicians  and  acute  con- 
troversialists, as  well  as  most  spiritual  theologians,  the 
Author  of  the  Letters  to  Bp.  Hoadley,  and  of  the  "Se- 
rious Call  to  a  Devout  Life,"  who  did  not  escape  the 
fanatical  spells  of  Jacob  Boehmen, — William  Law. 

There  were  also  some  important  truths  underlying 
the  errors  of  Montanism.  Its  acceptance  was  due  in 
a  measure  to  the  consciousness  of  the  existence  of 
supernatural  charismata  in  the  primitive  Church  ;  and 
it  served  to  bring  out  the  truth  as  to  the  nature  of 
genuine  Inspiration. 

The  Montanists  affirmed  that  a  person  under  the 
influence  of  inspiration,  and  in  a  prophetic  ecstasy,  lost 
his  identity,  and  was  no  more  a  free  agent  than  a 
lyre  struck  by  a  plectrum  (Epiphan.  Haer.  48.  Euseb. 
V.  16.     Tertullian  c.  Marcion,  iv.  22). 

But  this  notion  was  refuted  by  the  orthodox 
teachers  of  the  Church.  And  in  the  sphere  of  Church 
discipline  and  morals,  the  asceticism  of  Montanism  as 
to  the  merit  of  celibacy  and  fasting,  and  the  enthu- 
siastic desire  of  martyrdom,  served  to  bring  out  more 
clear  and  sober  statements  from  those  who  confronted 
it  (cp.  Neander,  ii.  252). 

The  history  of  Montanism  with  its  ecstatic 
trances  and  strange  supernatural  phenomena,  and 
pretensions  to  communion  with  the  unseen  world,  and 
with  oracular  utterances  from  it,  may  also  have  a 
practical  value  for  the  present  age,  as  showing  that 
the  spiritualism  of  later  days  has  been  virtually  sub- 


TERTULLIAN'S  WRITINGS.  237 

jected  to  the  judgment  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
been  condemned  by  it. 

TertuUian  was  originally  a  heathen  ;  was  married, 
and  addressed  two  Books  to  his  wife  ;  and  probably  a 
Priest.  He  wrote  in  Greek  as  well  as  in  Latin  ;  he  was 
deeply  read  in  heathen  literature,  skilful  in  Roman 
Law,  as  well  as  versed  in  the  study  of  Holy  Scriptures 
and  Christian  Theology.  It  is  not  easy  to  discriminate 
the  Treatises  written  by  him  after  he  lapsed  into 
Montanism  from  those  which  he  composed  previously. 
He  died  at  a  very  advanced  age.  Perhaps  we  shall 
not  be  far  wrong  in  saying  that  he  was  born  about 
A.D.  1 60,  lapsed  into  Montanism  about  A.D.  205,  and 
died  about  A.D.  245.^* 

The  Apologetic  works  of  TertuUian  against  the 
heathen  and  against  the  Jews  have  been  already 
noticed  (pp.  93,  97).  His  ethical  treatises  do  not  now 
claim  attention.  We  have  examined  his  Treatise  on 
Baptism  (p.  55).  We  will  limit  ourselves  here  to  those 
against  heresy.  And  of  these  it  is  not  necessary  to 
describe  that  against  Valentinianus,  which  is  derived 
from  the  previous  work  of  Irenseus.  Nor  need  we 
deal  with  those  against  Marcion,^  to  which  reference 
has  been  already  made.  There  will  be  another  occa- 
sion for  adverting  to  the  Treatise  against  Praxeas  the 
Patripassianist,  when  we  have  to  speak  of  Noetus.  That 
against  Hermogenes  is   limited  to  the  question  of  the 

3  The  following  were  certainly  written  after  his  secession :  De 
Corona  ;  De  Anima  ;  De  Virginibus  velandis  ;  De  Resurrectione  Carnis  ; 
De  Fuga  in  Persecutione  ;  De  Monogamia  ;  De  Jejuniis  ;  De  Pudicitia  ; 
Contra  Praxeam  ;  Contra  Marcionem.  See  Bp.  Kaye  on  TertuUian, 
p.  43  ;  ibid.  56. 

^  Cp.  Tillemont,  iii.  pp.  196,  232. 

*  For  an  abstract  of  them  see  Bp.  Kaye's  TertuUian,  pp.  480 — 508. 


238    HIS  "  DE  PRALSCRIPTIONE  HyERETICORUlM." 

origin  of  matter,  which  Hermogenes  affirmed  to  be 
eternal. 

The  Scorpiace,  an  antidote  to  the  scorpion-stings 
of  heresy,  is  directed  against  the  Valentinians  and 
other  Gnostics  who  deemed  it  a  delusion  to  encounter 
Martyrdom. 

The  Tract  "  de  Praescrlptlone  Haereticorum "  (so 
called  by  a  legal  term  prcEscriptio,  signifying  a  de- 
murrer) is  an  admirable  specimen  of  Tertullian's 
style  and  manner,  and  a  characteristic  production  of 
his  intellectual  power  and  moral  and  spiritual  tem- 
perament. 

In  the  following  extracts  from  it  some  passages  are 
translated  literally,  others  are  only  paraphrased. 

The  circumstances  of  the  present  times  (he  says, 
c.  i)  suggest  to  us  this  warning,  that  we  ought  not 
to  be  surprised  either  that  heresies  exist,  seeing  that 
they  were  foretold,  or  that  they  subvert  the  faith  of 
some  ;  for  they  exist  for  this  purpose,  in  order  that 
Faith,  being  tried,  may  be  approved. 

Heresies  derive  their  power  (he  says,  c.  2) 
from  some  men's  weakness,  and  have  no  power  at  all 
if  they  encounter  a  strong  faith.  Weak  brethren  are 
accustomed  to  be  edified  to  destruction  ^  by  the  fall  of 
certain  persons  into  heresy.  How  happens  it,  they 
ask,  that  such  or  such  a  man,  so  faithful,  prudent,  and 
experienced  in  the  Church,  has  seceded  to  a  sect }  If 
a  man  asks  such  a  question  as  this,  why  does  he  not 
answer  it  himself  by  replying  that  no  one  is  prudent 
or  faithful  or  experienced  who  has  been  misled  by 
heresy  }  Forsooth,  is  it  a  wonderful  thing  that  a  man, 
once  approved,  should   fall  1     Saul,  once  eminent  in 

6  "  /Edificari  ad  ruinam,"  "  to  be  built  up  to  a  ruin,"  an  oxymoron, 
paradox,  or  surprise,  characteristic  of  Tertullian. 


HERESY  FORETOLD',  ITS  MORAL  DEPRAVITY.      239 

virtue,  became  reprobate  ;  David,  the  man  after  God's 
own  heart,  was  guilty  of  adultery  and  murder. 
Solomon,  who  was  gifted  by  God  with  all  grace  and 
wisdom,  was  beguiled  by  women  to  idolatry.  It  was 
reserved  for  the  Son  of  God  alone  to  be  without  sin.' 
What  then }  If  a  Bishop,  a  Deacon,  or  Widow,  or 
Virgin,  or  Doctor  of  the  Church,  or  even  if  a  Martyr 
has  lapsed  from  the  rule  of  faith,  shall  heresies  there- 
fore become  true  }  Do  we  test  faith  by  men,  and 
not  test  men  by  faith  t  No  man  is  wise  who  is  not 
faithful  ;  no  one  is  a  teacher  ^  but  a  Christian  ;  no  one 
IS  a  Christian  who  does  not  endure  to  the  end.  The 
Lord  holds  in  His  hand  His  fan  to  purge  His  floor. 
Let  the  chaff  of  fickle  faith  fly  off  as  it  likes  from 
the  threshing-floor  of  the  Church  with  every  blast  of 
temptation,  so  much  the  more  pure  will  be  the  heap 
of  corn,  to  be  stowed  in  the  garner  of  the  Lord. 

He  then  shows  that  Christ  Himself  in  His  earthly 
ministry  was  deserted  by  many  of  His  disciples.  What 
wonder  then  that  His  Apostle  Paul  should  have  had  a 
Phygellus,  an  Hermogenes,  an  Hymenaeus,  or  an 
Alexander  1     The  traitor  was  an  Apostle. 

He  shows  also  that  Heresies  and  Apostasies  from 
the  Church  have  been  foretold  in  Holy  Scripture,  and 
that  Heresies  are  of  use  to  prove  the  faith  of  the 
orthodox. 

St.  Paul,  he  says,  reckons  Heresy  among  the 
works  of  the  flesh  (Gal.  v.  20)  ;  and  St.  Paul  says  that 
a  heretic  who  is  obstinate  after  warning  is  self-con- 
demned (Titus  iii.  10).     The  reason  of  which  is,  that 

'  Tertullian  knew  nothing  of  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

^  The  original  is  major.  Ought  we  to  read  magr,  i.e.  magister,  a 
teacher  ?    I  have  ventured  to  translate  it  so. 


240  HERESY  DERIVED  FROM  HEATHEN  PHILOSOPHY. 

the  word  heresy  signifies  choice,  and  if  a  man  chooses 
what  is  false  (instead  of  receiving yN\vdX  God  reveals),  he 
is  condemned  by  himself  in  choosing  it. 

But  in  matters  of  faith  we  are  not  permitted  to 
choose  anything,  or  to  receive  anything  new  that  others 
have  chosen.  Our  Teachers  are  the  Apostles  of  the 
Lord,  who  chose  nothing  for  themselves,  but  received 
and  taught  the  doctrine  which  He  delivered  to  them  ; 
and  therefore,  "  if  even  an  angel  from  heaven  were  to 
teach  us  anything  else,  we  should  call  him  anathema  " 
(Gal.  i.  8). 

He  affirms  that  most  Heresies  have  sprung  from 
heathen  philosophy  {c.j).  The  ^ons  of  Valentinus  are 
from  Plato ;  the  supreme  God  of  Marcion  is  a  reproduc- 
tion of  the  tranquil  apathy  of  Stoicism.  The  denial 
of  the  soul's  immortality  is  from  Epicurus  ;  the  dis- 
belief of  the  body's  resurrection  is  from  every  school 
of  Gentile  philosophy.  The  eternal  co-ordination  of 
matter  with  God  (by  Hermogenes)  is  from  Zeno. 

But  what  (he  asks)  have  Christians  to  do  with 
pagan  philosophy  ?  (c.  7.)  What  has  Jerusalem  to  do 
with  Athens  }  What  has  the  Church  to  do  with  the 
Academy  }  What  have  Christians  to  do  with  heretics  .'' 
We  have  learnt  Jesus  Christ,  and  have  now  no  need 
of  curious  search  ;  we  are  not  inquisitive,  for  we  have 
the  Gospel.  When  we  believe,  we  do  not  crave  to 
believe  anything  beyond  our  belief  ;  rather,  we  believe 
that  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  believed  than  what 
we  believe  (c.  8). 

Some  persons  say,  quoting  our  Lord's  words, 
"  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find  "  (Matt.  vii.  7)  ;  but  this  is 
not  to  be  applied  to  articles  of  faith,  which  have  been 
fully  revealed  already  once  for  all.^     And  if  I  am  to 

9  Tertullian,  like  S.  Irengeus,  knew  nothing  of  the  theory  of  the  "  De- 


TERTULLIAN'S  CREED.  241 

act  on  this  advice,  where  am  I  to  stop  ?  What  is  to 
be  the  end  of  my  seeking  ?  If  I  stop  at  Marcion, 
Valentinus  comes  up  to  me,  and  seizes  hold  of  me. 
If  I  pause  at  Valentinus,  Apelles  shoves  me  on,  and 
says,  "  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find."  Next,  Simon  Magus 
arrests  me  ;  and  so,  when  I  am  trying  to  meet  them 
all, — I  am  nowhere. 

*'But  if  we  are  to  seek,  let  us  seek  on  our  own 
ground,  and  from  among  our  own  friends.  Let  us  seek 
that  alone  which  may  be  sought  without  straying  away 
from  the  Rule  of  Faith  (c.  13)."  He  then  sets  down 
the  Rule  of  Faith,  which  may  be  compared  with 
the  Creed  already  quoted  from  S.  Irenaeus  (see  above, 
p.  217). 

Taken  together,  these  Creeds,  which  are  substantially 
the  same,  and  yet  have  some  circumstantial  varieties, 
are  strong  and  independent  testimonies  of  the  union 
of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  in  the  same 
Catholic  Faith. 

"  We  believe  that  there  is  One  God,  and  none  other 
than  the  Creator  of  the  world  ;  Who  made  all  things 
of  nothing  by  means  of  His  Word,  Whom  we  call  His 
Son  ;  Who  appeared  in  the  Name  of  God  at  various 
times  and  in  divers  manners  to  the  Patriarchs,  and 
Whose  voice  was  always  heard  by  the  Prophets  ;  Who 
in  the  last  days  came  down  from  the  Spirit  and  Might 
of  the  Father  into  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  made 
flesh  in  her  womb,  and  was  born  of  her,  and  in  very  act 
and  deed  was  Jesus  Christ ;  and  preached  the  new  Law 
and  a  new  Promise  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  and 
worked  Miracles  ;  and  was  nailed  to  the  cross  ;  and 
rose  again  from  the  dead  the  third  day  ;  and  was  taken 

velopinent  of  Christian  Doctrine"  as  any  part  of  the  system  of  the 
Theology  of  the  Catholic  Church.     See  above,  p.  222. 

R 


242  TERTULLIAN'S  PROFESSION  OF  FAITH. 

Up  into  heaven,  and  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father ;  and  sent  in  His  own  stead  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  operate  in  the  faithful ;  and  Who  will 
come  again  in  glory  to  receive  to  Himself  His  Saints 
to  the  fruition  of  life  eternal  and  heavenly  promises, 
and  to  condemn  the  wicked  to  everlasting  fire  ;  and 
He  will  raise  both  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  with 
their  bodies,  and  with  flesh  and  blood,  from  their 
graves." 

With  this  profession  of  faith,  set  down  here  by 
Tertullian,  we  may  compare  the  similar  Creed  in  his 
Treatise  against  Praxeas  (c.  2). 

. "  We  believe  in  One  God,  but  under  the  following 
dispensation  or  oeconomy,  that  is,  we  believe  also  in 
the  Son  of  God,  His  Word,  Who  came  forth  from  Him, 
by  Whom  all  things  were  made,  and  without  Whom 
nothing  was  made  ;  Who  was  sent  by  Him  into  the 
Virgin,  and  was  born  of  her,  being  both  Man  and 
God,  the  Son  of  Man  and  the  Son  of  God,  and  called 
Jesus  Christ ;  Who  suffered,  died,  and  was  buried, 
according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  was  received  again  by 
the  Father,  and  was  taken  up  into  heaven,  there  to 
sit  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  and  thence  to 
come  again  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  ;  Who 
sent  from  heaven  from  His  Father  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  Comforter,  the  Sanctifier  of  all  who  believe  in  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost." 

"This  Rule  of  Faith,"  he  adds  (c.  14),  "being 
established  by  Christ,  admits  of  no  questionings 
among  us,  except  such  as  are  raised  by  heresies,  or  such 
as  make  heretics.  Therefore  let  curiosity  give  way 
to  faith,  and  let  vain-glory  give  way  to  salvation.  To 
know  nothing  contrary  to  the  Rule  of  Faith  is  to  know 
everything." 


ON  APPEALS  TO  HOL  Y  SCRIPTURE.  243 

He  then  enters  on  the  inquiry  whether  heretics  are 
to  be  admitted  to  dispute  concerning  Scripture. 

Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  TertulHan  does  not 
demur  to  an  appeal  to  Scripture  generally,  provided 
the  appellants  agree  as  to  what  is  Scripture,  and  how 
it  is  to  be  interpreted ;  but  he  takes  exception  against 
such  an  appeal  in  the  case  of  heretics^  who  do  not 
agree  as  to  wJiat  is  Scripture,  but  reject,  in  their  own 
arbitrary  caprice,  any  portions  of  Scripture  that  do  not 
agree  with  their  own  preconceived  notions  ;  and  who 
reject  the  true  interpretation  of  Scripture,  and  despise 
the  Church,  which  is  appointed  by  God  to  be  its  inter- 
preter, and  pervert  the  Scripture  to  suit  their  own 
fancies. 

There  is  no  end,  he  says,  of  controversies  on 
Scripture  with  such  men  as  these,  and  no  good  to  be 
gained  from  such  disputes.  You  will  only  lose  your 
time  and  temper,  and  not  convince  them. 

Whether  this  is  a  sound  statement  may  admit  a 
doubt.  S.  Irenaeus,  as  we  have  seen,  arguing  in  his 
books  against  heretics  who  perverted  the.  meaning  of 
Scripture,  explains  what  the  true  sense  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, which  they  perverted,  is.  So  did  Tertullian  him- 
self in  his  work  against  Marcion.  So  did  Athanasius 
and  the  other  Catholic  Fathers  ;  they  used  Scripture, 
rightly  interpreted,  against  those  who  misinterpreted  it. 
This  they  did,  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of  the  heretics 
themselves,  as  for  that  of  those  who  were  in  danger  of 
being  led  astray  by  their  heretical  misinterpretations. 
So  did  S.  Augustine  in  his  works  against  Faustus  and 
other  Manichaeans.  So  did  a  Greater  than  all  of  them, 
our  Blessed  Lord  at  the  Temptation.  He  appealed 
to  Scripture,  rightly  understood,  in  opposition  to  the 
Tempter  who  perverted  it  (see  on  Matt.  iv.  6,  7). 

R  2 


244  HOW  HERETICS  TREAT  SCRIPTURE. 

But  to  return.  "  This  or  that  heresy,"  he  says, 
"  does  not  receive  certain  Scriptures,  or  if  it  receives 
them,  does  not  receive  them  in  their  integrity,  but 
mangles  them,  and  adds  to  them,  in  order  to  suit  its 
own  tenets  ;  and  if  it  receives  them  in  their  integrity, 
it  wrests  them  to  its  own  purposes  by  arbitrary  expo- 
sitions. The  Truth  is  as  much  depraved  by  the  false 
interpretation  that  adulterates  Scripture,  as  by  the 
amputating  knife  that  mutilates  it  (c.  17). 

"Therefore  with  such  men  as  these  we  must  not 
appeal  to  Scripture,  nor  must  we  rest  the  issue  of  the 
controversy  upon  it.  We  must  first  decide  the  ques- 
tions, To  whom  do  the  Scriptures  belong  ?  To 
heretics,  or  to  the  Church  }  To  whom  have  they  been 
committed  ?  Who  is  their  Guardian  }  Who  their 
Interpreter  1  Heresy,  or  the  Church }  Whereso- 
ever the  truth  of  Christian  discipline  and  faith  exists, 
there  also  exists  the  Truth  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  right 
Interpretation  of  it,  and  of  all  Christian  traditions  ;" 
that  is,  in  the  Church.  He  then  shows  (c.  20)  that 
the  origin  of  the  Church,  and  well-spring  of  the  Faith 
is  in  Christ,  Who  chose  the  Twelve  Apostles  ;  whom, 
when  after  His  resurrection  He  was  going  to  the 
Father,  He  commissioned  to  teach  all  Nations,  and  to 
baptize  them  into  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  After  the  election  of 
Matthias  into  the  place  of  Judas,  the  Apostles  received 
the  promised  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  enabling  them 
to  work  miracles  and  to  preach,  first  in  Judaea,  where 
they  founded  Churches.  Afterwards  they  went  forth 
into  the  world  and  preached  the  same  doctrine  of  the 
same  Faith  to  the  Nations  ;  and  thenceforth  in  every 
city  they  planted  Churches,  from  which  the  other 
Churches  of  the  world  have  derived,  like  trees,   the 


SUCCESSION  OF  CHURCHES  AND  MINISTERS.     245 

suckers  of  their  faith,  and  the  seed  of  their  doctrine  ; 
and  from  which  in  succession  other  Churches  con- 
tinually spring  forth  and  derive  their  spiritual  essence 
and  their  qualification  to  be  C/mrches,  and  thus  are 
recognized  as  Apostolic  Churches,  being  the  offspring 
and  family  of  Apostolic  Churches  (c.  20). 

"  Every  generation,"  he  says,  "  is  to  be  traced  back 
to  its  origin,  and  to  be  reckoned  in  the  census  of  the 
parental  stock.  Therefore  so  many  and  so  great 
Churches  throughout  the  world,  are  virtually  07ie 
Church  ;  and  are  contained  and  included  in  that  one 
primitive  Church  which  is  from  the  Apostles.  All 
Churches  are  that  one  first  Church  ;  all  are  Apostolic, 
as  long  as  they  can  all  prove  their  unity,  by  means  of 
the  communication  of  peace,  and  by  the  name  of 
brotherhood,  and  by  the  mutual  recognition  and  in- 
terchange of  Christian  intercommunion  and  spiritual 
hospitality. 

"  Hence  it  follows  (c.  21)  that  every  Church,  which 
agrees  with  those  Apostolic  Mother-Churches,  and 
original  sources  of  faith,  is  to  be  counted  as  true ; 
in  that  it  holds  without  wavering  that  true  faith  which 
the  Church  received  from  the  Apostles,  and  which  the 
Apostles  received  from  Christ,  and  which  Christ 
received  from  God. 

"  It  follows  also  that  every  doctrine  is  to  be  pre- 
judged as  false,  which  contravenes  the  truth  that  was 
taught  by  the  Churches,  by  the  Apostles,  by  Christ, 
and  by  God." 

He  then  combats  two  heretical  allegations,  that  the 
Apostles  did  not  know  all  necessary  dogmatic  truths  ; 
or  that  they  did  not  fully  communicate  to  their 
disciples  what  they  knew ;  and  he  shows  that  both 
these  allegations  are  false. 


246  UNITY  AND  ANTIQUITY  THE  ESSENCE  OF  TRUTH: 
DIVERSITY  AND  NOVELTY,   OF  ERROR. 

"Who  can  imagine  that  the  Apostles  who  were  taught 
by  our  Lord  Himself,  and  to  whom  He  gave  super- 
natural gifts,  did  not  comprehend  the  truth  ?  But  let 
us  grant,"  he  says  (c.  28),  "  for  argument's  sake,  that 
the  Apostles  were  deceived,  in  rendering  their  testi- 
mony to  the  truth  ;  let  us  even  admit,  that  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  Steward  of  God,  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  failed 
in  the  discharge  of  His  duty,  to  guide  the  Church  into 
all  truth,  and  to  teach  her  all  things,  although  He  was 
sent  by  Christ  according  to  His  promise  for  this  ex- 
press purpose,  and  was  given  in  answer  to  Christ's 
prayer  to  the  Father  for  the  Gift  of  the  Comforter  that 
He  might  be  the  Teacher  of  all  Truth. 

"  Grant  all  this,  if  you  please  ; — what  then  ?  Is  it  pro- 
bable, that  all  Churches  should  have  erred  into  one  and 
the  same  Faith  f  Unity  is  not  the  result  of  multiplicity. 
Error  produces  diversity.  That  which  among  many 
is  found  to  be  one  and  the  same,  is  not  an  invention 
of  error,  but  a  tradition  of  truth.  Did  the  authors  of 
this  uniform  tradition  err }  Did  Error  prevail  uni- 
formly in  the  Church,  till  Heresies  arose  to  correct  it } 
Did  Truth  sit  patiently,  like  a  captive  in  a  dungeon,  till 
some  Marcionites  or  Valentinians  arose  ^  to  release 
her  .?  In  the  mean  while,  before  these  heresies  existed, 
was  all  Preaching  a  mistake  }  Was  all  belief  a  mis- 
take }  Were  all  the  thousands  of  Baptisms  adminis- 
tered up  to  that  time  a  mistake  t  Were  all  works  of 
faith,  and  all  miracles  then  performed  in  the  Church 
a  mistake }  Were  all  gifts  and  graces  a  mistake  t 
Were  all  ordinations,  all  ministrations  abortive  ?   Were 


1  The  reader  may  feel  constrained  to  apply  these  questions  to  religious 
societies  of  later  days,  deriving  their  names  from  human  Founders.  Was 
Truth  in  prison  for  1500  years,  till  Calvin  came  to  deliver  her?  Did 
she  slumber  in  a  trance  till  Wesley  arose  to  awaken  her  ? 


PRIORITY  OF  TRUTH;  NOVELTY  OF  HERESY—  247 
APOSTOLIC  SUCCESSION. 

all  Martyrdoms  crowned  in  vain  ?      No :    Heresy  is 

proved  to  be  false  by  its    novelty.      The"  substance 

always  precedes  the  shadow.     Truth  is  always  before 

heresy.    And  the  Holy  Scripture  of  Truth  foretold  the 

rise  of  heresies  which  would  corrupt  the  truth." 

He  proceeds  to  prove  the  comparative  novelty  of 
heresy  (c.  30).  The  heresiarchs  had  not  appeared  in 
primitive  times.  "  Where,  he  asks,  was  Marcion  then, 
the  mariner  of  Pontus,  the  votary  of  Stoicism  }  Where 
was  Valentinus,  the  scholar  of  Plato  }  Nowhere.  They 
did  not  exist  till  about  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Anto- 
ninus ;  ^  and  were  orthodox  in  the  Episcopate  of  Eleu 
therus.  Bishop  of  Rome,  when  they  fell  away  from  the 
Church,  and  were  excommunicated  by  her.  Priority  of 
time  as  to  Christian  doctrine  is  an  evidence  of  truth  ; 
posteriority,  a  proof  of  falsehood.  Our  challenge  there- 
fore to  all  heresies  is  this.  Exhibit  the  origin  of  your 
Churches.  Unroll  the  succession  of  your  Bishops.  Show 
us  that  the  first  in  order  in  that  succession  was  a  person 
who  was  preceded  by  an  Apostle,  or  by  a  man  who 
had  conversed  with  the  Apostles.  Such  is  the  pedi- 
gree and  census  of  all  Apostolical  Churches  ;  as,  for 
example,  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  where  Polycarp  was 
placed  as  Bishop  by  St.  John  ;  or  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  where  Clement  was  ordained  by  St.  Peter." 

In  accordance  with  this  principle,  he  proc<^eds  by 
the  same  method  as  that  employed  by  S.  xrenaeus, 
as  we  have  already  seen  (above,  p.  223).  "^xc  tells  the 
Christian  believer  that  if  he  desires  to  exercise  his 
love  of  inquiry  in  the  work  of  his  Salvation,  he  may 
take  a  survey  of  the  different  Churches  of  Christen- 

'  Cp.  Justin  Martyr's  First  Apology,  addressed  to  Antoninus  Pius, 
c.  26  and  c.  58,  where  he  speaks  of  Marcion  as  then  broaching  his 
heretical  opinions. 


248  APPEAL  TO  APOSTOLIC  CHURCHES. 

dom  in  which  the  Chairs  of  the  Apostles  ^  still  pre- 
serve their  presidency,  and  where  their  authentic 
Epistles  are  read,  uttering  the  voice  and  displaying  the 
countenance  of  each  Apostle.  "  Is  Achaia  near  you  ? 
You  have  Corinth  (to  which  St.  Paul  wrote).  If  you 
are  not  far  from  Macedonia,  you  have  Philippi  and 
Thessalonica.  If  you  can  visit  Asia,  you  have  Ephesus. 
If  you  are  near  Italy,  you  have  Rome.  Happy  indeed 
is  that  Church  (of  Rome),  into  which  the  Apostles 
poured  their  doctrine  with  their  blood,  where  Peter 
suffered  by  crucifixion  like  his  Lord,  and  where  Paul 
was  crowned  with  the  death  of  John  the  Baptist ; 
where  John  was  plunged  into  the  caldron  of  oil,  and 
suffered  no  harm,  and  was  banished  to  the  Isle  of 
Patmos.  Let  us  see  what  that  Church  learnt,  and  what 
it  taught,  and  how  it  symbolized  with  the  Churches  of 
Africa.^  It  knew  of  only  One  God,  the  Creator  of  the 
World,  and  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God  the  Creator,  from 
the  Virgin  Mary  ;  and  the  Resurrection  of  the  Flesh. 
In  its  public  assemblies  it  joins  the  reading  of  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets  with  that  of  the  Gospels  and 
Apostolic  Writings ;  it  drinks  its  faith  from  those 
Scriptures  ;  it  seals  that  faith  with  Baptism  ;  it  clothes 
that  faith  with  the  Holy  Spirit  (in  Confirmation);  it 
feeds  that  faith  with  the  Eucharist ;  it  exhorts  to 
Martyrdom  ;  and  it  receives  no  one  in  any  other  way 
than  in  accordance  with  these  appointments." 

He  proceeds  (c.  40)  to  contrast  this  system  of  the 
Church  as  to  doctrine  and  discipline  with  the  arbitrary 
and  variable  teaching  and  practice  of  heretical  com- 

3  Tertullian  therefore  had  no  notion  that  in  the  Catholic  Church  there 
was  only  one  "Apostolica  sedes  " — "Apostolic  see" — at  Rome. 

^  TertulHan,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  an  inhabitant — probably  a 
presbyter — of  Carthage. 


CONTRAST  OF  HERESY  AND  THE  CHURCH.      249 

munities.  He  charges  them  with  idolatry.  "They 
either  make  for  themselves,  he  says,  some  other 
God  in  opposition  to  the  Creator,  or  if  they  acknow- 
ledge the  Creator,  they  represent  Him  other  than  He 
is.     Every  falsehood  concerning  God  is  idolatry. 

"  The  character  of  their  religious  assemblies  is  with- 
out gravity,  authority,  or  discipline.  You  cannot  tell 
who  among  them  is  a  catechumen,  and  who  a  member 
of  their  Church.  Their  Church  assemblies,  their  at- 
tendance at  sermons,  and  their  prayers,  are  all  promis- 
cuous and  indiscriminate.  If  a  heathen  comes  among 
them,  they  give  what  is  holy  to  the  dogs,  and  they 
will  cast  pearls — though  not  real  ones — to  swine 
(Matt.  vii.  6).  Prostration  of  discipline  is  called  by 
them  simplicity ;  our  care  for  discipline  is  by  them 
called  pandering.  They  receive  all  to  communion. 
They  do  not  care  how  they  differ  among  themselves, 
provided  they  agree  in  attacking  the  truth.  Their 
women,  how  wanton  they  are !  they  take  on  them- 
selves to  preach,  to  dispute,  to  exorcise,  to  profess  to 
heal,  perhaps  to  baptize.  Their  ordinations,  how  rash, 
fickle,  inconstant !  At  one  time  they  admit  neo- 
phytes to  the  ministry,  at  another  men  engaged  in 
worldly  business,  at  another  those  who  have  fallen 
away  from  us,  in  order  that  they  may  bind  to  them- 
selves by  vain-glory  those  whom  they  cannot  unite  by 
the  truth.  In  no  place  is  preferment  so  easy  as  in  the 
camp  of  rebels.  To  be  there,  is  merit.  One  man  is  a 
Bishop  to-day,  to-morrow  another  ;  to-day  a  man  is  a 
Deacon,  to-morrow  he  becomes  a  Reader ;  to-day  he 
is  a  Priest,  to-morrow  a  Layman  ;  for  they  invest  even 
Laymen  with  priestly  functions.  They  do  not  care  to 
convert  the  heathen,  but  they  try  to  subvert  us  ;  they 
had  rather  cause  those  who  stand  to  fall,  than  enable 


250  ON  RELIGIOUS  DIVISIONS. 

the  fallen  to  rise.  They  undermine  our  house,  in  order 
to  build  up  their  own.  Not  construction,  but  destruc- 
tion, is  their  work.     Their  bond  of  union  is  Schism. 

*'  I  have  now,"  he  concludes  (c.  45),  "  dealt  with 
heresies  generally.  If  God  will,  I  shall  hereafter 
endeavour  to  refute  them  severally.  In  the  mean 
time,  to  all  who  read  this  treatise  I  wish  peace,  and 
the  Grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  evermore. 
Amen:''' 

The  reader  of  the  foregoing  abstract  of  the  work  of 
TertuUian  need  hardly  be  reminded  that  it  is  applicable 
to  the  religious  communities  which  have  arisen  in 
Christendom,  especially  in  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth, 
and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  which  now  mar  its  unity. 

May  they  listen  to  the  appeal  of  TertuUian,  writing 
at  the  end  of  the  third  century. 

5  This  treatise  of  TertuUian  is  followed  in  the  Editions  of  his  works 
by  a  catalogue  of  heresies,  which  is  probably  not  genuine.  It  has 
been  supposed  by  some  to  be  a  translation  of  the  "little  book  "  on 
heresies,  written  by  S.  Hippolytus  (see  my  Hippolytus,  p.  192),  and 
seen  by  Photius,  but  now  lost. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Defenders  of  the  Faith  against  Heresy— S.  Clement  of 
A  lexandria. 

It  was  providentially  ordered,  that  in  addition  to 
S.  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian,  the  Christian  Church  could 
number  among  her  defenders  against  Heresy  such 
persons  as  the  learned  Presbyter  and  Teacher  of 
Theology,  Clement  of  Alexandria. 

Heresy,  as  we  have  seen,  was  regarded  by  Tertullian 
as  an  offspring  of  heathen  Philosophy.  "  The  Philoso- 
phers, he  said,  are  the  Patriarchs  of  Heretics "  (see 
Tertullian  c.  Hermogenem,  c.  8  ;  de  Anima,  c.  3, 
23  ;  de  Praescr.  Haeret.  c.  7,  30).  S.  Irenaeus  also  was 
of  opinion  that  many  of  the  tenets  of  heresiarchs  were 
derived  from  heathen  Schools  of  Ethics  and  Meta- 
physics. The  same  opinion  was  entertained  by  the 
scholar  of  S.  Irenaeus,  S.  Hippolytus,  Bishop  of 
Portus  Romanus,  and  was  made  the  groundwork  of 
his  lately-discovered  "  Refutation  of  all  Heresies." 

But  this  view  was  an  imperfect  one  ;  and  it  was 
reserved  to  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  his  scholars, 
especially  Origen,  to  supply  its  deficiencies  by  a  more 
enlarged,  liberal,  and  philosophical  treatment  of 
theological  questions. 

Alexandria  may  be  called  the  Mother  of  systematic 
theological    Science.      The   conquests   of  the   Greek 


252      SCHOOL  OF  ALEXANDRIA— CLEMENS  ALEX- 
ANDRINUS. 

Monarchy  under  Alexander  the  Great  had  extended 

themselves  to  Egypt;  and  one  of  his  successors,  Ptolemy, 

had  founded  a  Greek  Dynasty  at  Alexandria.  Thus  the 

Philosophy,  Poetry,  and  other  Literature  of  Greece 

found  a  home  in  Egypt.    A  School  of  Hebrew  Rabbis 

also  existed  there,  rendered  famous  by  the  translation 

of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  Greek,  under  Ptolemy 

Philadelphus,  i.  e.  the  Septuagint  Version,  entitled  the 

Alexandrine.     The  traditions  of  Egyptian  Wisdom,  in 

which  Moses  himself  had  been  trained  (Acts  vii.  2), 

wepe  also  preserved  there. 

The  School  of  Christian  Theology  which  flourished 
there  has  been  traced  by  some  to  St.  Mark  the 
Evangelist,  the  disciple  of  St.  Peter,  and  probably 
Bishop  of  Alexandria.^ 

S.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  succeeded  Pantaenus 
in  the  headship  of  that  School,  declares  his  own  view 
of  his  duties  in  that  office.  His  desire  was  to  gather 
from  every  quarter  what  would  be  useful  to  his  pupils, 
especially  Greeks ;  for  "  the  Earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the 
fulness  thereof"  (p.  659,  ed.  Potter). 

All  culture  is  profitable  ;  and,  above  all,  the  study  of 
Holy  Scripture,  to  enable  us  to  prove  what  we  teach 
(p.  660). 

He  had  four  classes  to  deal  with  :  ^ 

(i.)  The  seekers  after  wisdom,  the  Greeks  who 
despised  Christianity  as  a  blind  faith,  shunning  the 
light  of  reason. 

1  Euseb.  ii.  15,  16,  24;  v.  10,  II ;  vi.  3,  There  is  a  full  account 
of  this  School  in  the  Treatise  of  H.  E.  F.  Guerike  "de  Schola  quce 
Alexandrise  floruit  catechetica"  (Halis.  1824),  and  its  Teachers, 
Athenagoras,  Pantaenus,  Clement,  Origen,  Heraclas,  Dionysius,  Pierius, 
Theognostus,  Serapion,  Peter  the  Martyr,  (Arius  ?)  Didymus  (the 
teacher  of  S.  Jerome),  Rhodon. 

2  Cp.  Neander,  ii.  263. 


CLEMENS  ALEXANDRINUS.  253 

(2.)  The  Gnostics,  who  also  despised  faith  as  only 
the  religion  of  the  many,  and  who  promised  to 
their  own  votaries  an  esoteric  gnosis  or  knowledge  far 
superior  to  faith. 

(3.)  Those  Christian  Teachers  who  feared  and  hated 
human  science  and  philosophy,  as  dangerous  to  the 
Faith,  and  even  as  an  offspring  of  the  Evil  One. 

(4.)  The  Jews. 

He  had  to  contend  with  all  these,  and,  as  far  as  he 
could,  to  conciliate  and  win  them  to  the  Church.  He 
was  well  qualified  for  the  work.  He  had  travelled 
into  Greece,  Italy,  and  Egypt,  and  had  conversed 
with  learned  and  holy  men  of  those  and  other 
lands  (see  p.  322,  ed.  Potter;  Euseb.  v.  11).  He  was 
(as  we  have  said)  the  scholar  and  successor  of  the 
philosophical,  learned,  and  devout  Pantsenus,  as 
principal  Teacher  of  the  Catechetical  School  at 
Alexandria  (Euseb.  v.  1 1  ;  vi.  14.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl. 
c.  38),  and  there  he  became  the  master  of  Origen,  who 
succeeded  him  In  the  same  theological  chair. 

Clement  appears  to  have  held  that  position  till  the 
breaking  out  of  the  persecution  of  the  Church  In  the 
tenth  year  of  the  Emperor  Severus,  A.D.  202. 

All  Christian  Teaching,  according  to  his  view,  is 
derived  from  one  and  the  same  Divine  Master,  the 
Eternal  A0709  or  WORD,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Creator, 
God  and  Lord,  and  Judge  of  all. 

He  delivers  that  teaching  In  three  works  ; 

1.  In  his  TrpoTpeirrLKo^;,  or  hortatory  address  to  the 
Gentiles,  that  they  may  embrace  Christianity. 

2.  In  his  TraLhaycoyo^,  Pedagogue^  he  represents  the 

3  St.  Paul's  use  of  this  word  will  occur  to  the  reader  (Gall  iii.  24). 
Let  me  refer  to  two  valuable  aids  in  the  study  of  the  life  and  works 
of  S.  Clement,— Bp.  Kaye's  "  Account  of  the  Writings  of  Clement  of 


254  HIS  HORTATORY  ADDRESS  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 

Divine  Master  as  initiating  His  Children  into  divine 
Sonship  by  Holy  Baptism,  the  Sacrament  of  regenera- 
tion and  adoption,  the  pledge  of  immortality  (pp.  113 
—  116). 

The  Divine  Master  trains  His  converts  in  the 
practical  duties  of  daily  life  ;  and  therefore  in  dealing 
with  this  subject  S.  Clement  is  led  to  deliver  precepts 
on  common  things,*  relating  to  food  and  drink,  to 
furniture,  music,  conversation,  costume  and  cosmetics, 
sleep,  beds  and  bed-chambers,  marriage,  dress  of  men 
and  women,  shoes,  rings  and  their  Christian  emblems 
(the  dove,  the  fish,  a  ship,  a  lyre,  an  anchor,  p.  289), 
jewels  and  chains  of  gold,  domestic  economy,  true 
beauty,  dyeing  the  hair,  the  beard,  the  bath,  and 
athletic  exercises  of  men  and  women,  and  women's 
household  duties,  the  arrangement  of  their  hair 
(p.  290),  false  hair,  hair-dyes  (pp.  291,  292),  rouge, 
the  gait  and  manners  and  the  tone  of  voice  of  women 
(pp.  292, 296),  female  slaves,  games  of  chance,  going  to 
the  theatre  (p.  298),  giving  attendance  to  sacred  things, 
honesty  in  dealing,  behaviour  in  church  (pp.  299 — 301), 
prayer  and  fasting,  and  sacrifice  (p.  305). 

S.  Clement  concludes  with  a  Hymn  of  Prayer  and 
Praise  ^  in  anapaestic  and  Iambic  verses ;  as  follows — 

Alexandria,"  London,  1835,  and  Neander's  Church  History,  vol.  ii. 
265 — 282,  Edinburgh,  1 85 1. 

■*  This  treatise,  the  Pedagogue,  will  be  found  very  interesting  and 
useful  to  the  Archaeologist ;  and  may  be  compared  with  such  Books 
as  Becker's  Callus,  Leipzig  1863,  and  Boettiger's  Sabina. 

5  In  the  first  verse  of  this  Hymn  (ed.  Potter,  p,  312)  are  the  following 
words  : — 

1S,t6ij.iou  TTwKoiv  aZoMv 

Tlrephv  opvidcav  airXauwu 

tyla^  vtiTTicDV  aTpiKr]5, 

the  last  line  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  scan  or  construe.  Archbp.  Potter 
in  his  edition  renders  it  "  Verus  clavus   infantumi"'  but    for    vrjirlwu 


S.  CLE  MEATS  HYMN.  255 

"Be  propitious  to  Thy  Children,  O  Father,  Charioteer 
of  Israel,  Son  and  Father,  both  One.  O  Lord,  grant 
that,  obeying  Thy  commandments,  we  may  perfect 
the  likeness  of  the  (divine)  image  ;  and  as  far  as  in 
us  lies  may  acknowledge  (Thee)  a  good  God,  and 
merciful  Judge.  Grant  that  all  we,  living  in  Thy 
peace,  translated  to  Thy  City,  sailing  safely  over  the 
waves  of  sin,  may  be  calmly  borne  along  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  ineffable  Wisdom,  and  may  sing  praise 
with  thanksgiving,  day  and  night,  till  the  perfect  day  ; 
rendering  thanks  and  lauds  to  the  only  Father  and 
Son,  Son  and  Father,  the  Pedagogue  and  Teacher, 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  all  in  One  ;  in  Whom  are  all 
things  ;  through  Whom  all  things  are  one  ;  through 
Whom  is  Eternity  ;  Whose  Members  we  all  are,  Whose 
is  the  Glory,  the  Ages. 

"  To  the  All-good,  All-beautiful,  All-wise,  All-just, 
be  Glory  noAv  and  for  ever.     Amen."  * 

3.  This  Hymn,  declaratory  of  Christian  doctrine,  is 
an  appropriate  introduction  to  the  third  work  of  S. 
Clement,  the  Stromateis,  literally  tapisseries,  forming 
a  variegated  patchwork,  quilt,  or  counterpane  of  many 
colours,  so  called  from  the  miscellaneous  "^  character 
of  its  contents,  put  together  without  any  systematic 
arrangement.  It  consists  of  Eight  Books. 
•     Though  there  is  little  order  in  the  adjustment  of  its 

we  may  conjecture  v'(](av,  of  ships,  and  we  may  translate  it  "  true  ricdder 
of  ships:' 

After  writing  this,  I  have  found  that  this  conjecture  had  been  antici- 
pated by  Klotz,  p.  348,  ed.  Lips.  1832,  who  has  arranged  this  beautiful 
Kymn  in  a  much  more  metrical  form  than  that  in  which  it  had  appeared 
in  former  editions  of  S.  Clement. 

^  With  this  Hymn  we  may  compare  the  "  Evening  Hymn  "  to  Christ 
in  Routh's  Reliquiae,  iii.  p.  513,  dating  from  the  second  or  third  Century. 

7  Like  the  Erzcvin  of  rabbinical  writers,  and  of  the  learned  Dr.  S.  R. 
Maitland,  Lond.  1850.     Clement's  work  is  also  called  Stroniata. 


256  HIS  STROMA! A. 

parts,  yet  the  design  of  the  whole  is  uniform  and 
one. 

The  Author  proposes  to  show  that  the  Gnostics  did 
not  deserve  their  name  ;  that  their  gnosis,  or  know- 
ledge, so  called,  is  in  fact  ignorance,  error,  and  false- 
hood, injurious  to  God  and  man  ;  that  Christianity  is 
the  only  true  Gnosis  or  knowledge,  and  that  the 
Christian  is  the  true  Gnostic ;  and  he  proceeds  to 
declare  what  are  the  real  qualifications  which  constitute 
that  character. 

The  work  therefore  has  a  twofold  design  ;  it  is  a 
Refutation  of  heretical  error,  and  a  Declaration  of 
Christian  Truth. 

He  lays  down  as  a  fundamental  principle  that 
Heresies  are  to  be  refuted  by  two  methods,  namely, 
from  Holy  Scripture,  and  by  an  appeal  to  the  primitive 
Church  ;  and  that  the  true  Theologian  will  show  that 
heresies  are  defections  from  them  both  (p.  888),  and 
that  Truth  is  the  only  right  uLpeai^  or  choice,  just  as 
Christianity  is  the  only  true  yvaxiL^  or  knowledge. 

A  person,  he  says,  ceases  to  be  a  man  of  God  and 
faithful  to  the  Lord  if  he  kicks  against  the  tradition 
of  the  Church  and  lapses  into  heresy  (p.  890)  ;  but  if 
he  obeys  the  Scripture,  he  recovers  his  relation  to  the 
Lord,  Who  is  the  origin  of  all  true  doctrine. 

S.  Clement  (like  TertuUian,  Prsescr.  Hser.  30)  argues 
from  the  novelty  of  heresies,  that  they  are  false  (p.  891). 
The  Gospel  preached  by  Christ  Himself,  he  says, 
began  under  Augustus  and  Tiberius,  and  was  con- 
summated after  the  intervention  of  his  time  (p. 


8  The  Editors  agree  that  the  text  here  is  corrupt.  The  words  are 
^  Tov  Kvplov  Karairapovaiav  BidaffKaXia  awh  Avyovarov  Kol  Ttfiepiov  Kai- 
aapos  ap^ajxiv-T]  iJ.i(TovvT(»i>  twv  AvyovcTTov  xp^f^v  TcXfiovrai,  where  for 
Avyova-rov  I  venture  to  read  avTov,  i.e.  of  him,  namely  Tiberius,  and  I 


HOW  HERETICS  QUOTE  SCRIPTURE.  257 

The  preaching  of  His  Apostles  to  the  end  of  the 
niinistration  of  St.  Paul  was  consummated  under 
Nero.  But  the  Heresiarchs  arose  under  Hadrian,  and 
continued  till  the  elder  Antonine  (Antoninus  Pius, 
Iren.  iii.  4  ;  see  above,  p.  246.  Euseb.  iv.  10).  The  true 
doctrine  is  that  which  is  first  in  time  ;  and  this  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church. 

He  also,  like  Tertullian,  infers  the  falsehood  of 
heresies  from  the  diversity  among  them,  as  well  as 
from  \kv€\x posteriority  to  the  Truth. 

"  There  is  only  One  Church  (he  says)  ;  that  which  is 
from  the  beginning,  that  which  is  grounded  on  its  own 
covenants  with  God,  or  rather,  on  One  Covenant,  which 
was  revealed  in  various  times,  and  which,  by  the  will  of 
One  God,  gathers  together  the  faithful  by  One  Lord, 
into  the  Unity  of  One  Faith.  But  Heresies,  which  are 
numerous,  divide  this  One  Church  into  various  sects, 
and  corrupt  this  One  Faith  by  diversities  of  doctrine." 

S.  Clement  states,  as  a  characteristic  of  all  Heretics, 
that  in  their  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  they  quote  them 
piecemeal,  and  pick  out  such  passages,  and  these 
often  perverted  by  false  interpretations,  as  seem  to 
favour  their  own  opinions,  which  they  prefer  to  the 
plain  words  of  our  Lord,  the  Prophets,  Evangelists, 
and  Apostles  (pp.  891,  892);  and  he  charges  them  with 
vain-glory  and  ambition  (pp.  892,  896),  and  says  that 
while  the  heathen  are  in  ignorance,  and  the  Church 
has  true  knowledge,  heretics  are  swayed  only  by  their 
own  private  opinions  (p.  894). 

The  heresies  against  which  his  work  is  mainly 
directed  are  those  of  Basilides  and  Valentinus ;  of 
Marcio7i  and  Carpocrates;  of  Tatian  and  the  Encratites. 

have  so  translated  it.     As  to  this  use  of  iii^aovvrt^v,  cp.  Irenrrus,  iii.  4, 
"  mediantibits  Ecclesise  Umporibus." 

'   S 


258  BASILIDES-  VALENTINUS. 

He  shows  that  the  tenets  of  Basilides  and  Valentinics 
are  destructive  of  the  doctrines  of  God's  Justice  and 
of  Human  Free-will. 

The  disciples  of  Basilides,  he  says,  assert  that  faith 
is  a  natural  gift  bestowed  by  God  on  the  Elect,  and 
that  it  reveals  knowledge  to  them  without  any  mental 
exertion  on  their  part. 

The  followers  of  Valentimis  disparage  faith.  They 
say  that  the  simple  may  have  it  and  profit  by  it,  but 
that  they  themselves,  who  are  saved  by  nature  and  are 
predestined  to  salvation,  enjoy  knowledge  which  is 
far  superior  to  faith,  even  -more  superior  to  faith  than 
spiritual  persons  are  superior  to  mere  animal  ones. 
They  affirm  that  all  things  are  subject  to  fatal  neces- 
sity (pp.  69—74,433). 

The  disciples  of  Basilides  assert  that  faith,  and 
election  together  with  faith,,  are  assigned  to  each 
person  according  to  his  degree  in  the  scale  of  being, 
by  a  supermundane  fatalism-;  and  that  faith  is  not 
an  act  of  the  will,  but  a  decree  of  destiny.  Hence, 
according  to  them,  argues  S.  Clement,  no  one  can  be 
responsible,  no  one  is  culpable,  no  one  is  liable  to 
punishment ;  for  sin  is  an  act  of  the  will  against  a 
known  law.  Hence  there  is  no  room  for  repentance, 
or  remission  of  sin,  and  Martyrdom  is  superfluous. 
The  means  of  grace  in  the  Church,  Baptism  and 
Confirmation,  are  lifeless  forms ;  God  Himself,  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  with  their  revealed  attributes  of 
Justice,  Mercy  and  Love,  Holiness  and  Purity,  are 
reduced  to  abstractions  and  moral  nonentities.  God 
is  only  a  necessary  piece  of  mechanism  ;  the  saving 
work  of  Christ's  Redemption  is  a  fable  ;  the  com- 
mands of  God  are  useless  (see  pp.  433,  467,  599,  603, 
639,  644,  645). 


TEACHING  OF  THE  CHURCH  ON  FAITH  AND     259 
•  SUFFERING— MARC  I  ON. 

The  Church  (he  says)  asserts  on  the  contrary  the 
indispensable  necessity  of  faith,  and  also  declares 
it  to  be  an  act  of  the  human  will,  enlightened  by 
divine  Grace  ;  and  that  it  must  show  itself  by  confes- 
sion of  God,  and  by  works  of  love  to  Him  and  to 
men  (pp.  640,  644,  645,  647),  and  by  holiness  ;  in 
opposition  to  those  heretics  who  lived  immoral  lives. 

He  shows  also  (p.  601 J  the  duty  of  Martyrdom, 
which  displays  the  perfect  work  of  love  (pp.  569,  570), 
and  says  that  by  death  the  Martyr  lives  (p.  582),  and 
that  Suffering  for  Christ  is  the  road  to  Glory  (pp.  587, 
598).  At  the  same  time  he  censures  those  who  reck- 
lessly expose  themselves  to  persecution  (p.  597),  and 
declares  that  God  overrules  all  the  sufferings  of  His 
servants  to  His  own  glory,  and  the  good  of  His 
Church,  and  to  the  salvation  of  those  who  suffer  for 
Him  (pp.  602 — 606). 

The  other  forms  of  heresy  which  are  refuted  by 
S.  Clement,  are  specially  those  of  the  Marcionites, 
Tatian  and  the  Encratites,  and  Carpocrates. 

Marcioii.w^  have  seen  (pp.  198 — 201),  held  the  doc- 
trine of  two  Gods  ;  one  just  and  severe,  the  Demiurge 
or  Creator  and  Author  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  the 
other  a  good  and  merciful  God,  the  Author  of  the 
New  (S.  Clem.  pp.  449,  515,  516,  645).  Marcion 
maintained  that  the  material  world  was  evil,  beinp; 
the  work  of  the  Demiurge,  the  antagonist  of  the  good 
Deity ;  and  that  it  was  a  moral  duty  to  oppose  Him 
and  His  works  ;  and  consequently  that  Marriage  and 
the  procreation  of  Children  are  to  be  condemned  as 
works  of  the  body,  and  tending  to  people  this  world, 
of  which  He  was  the  Maker. 

Tatian  and  theEncratites  took  a  similar  view  (pp.  186, 
315).      But    Carpocrates,   and    Epiphanes    his    son, 

S  2 


260  SPIRITUALISM  AhW  LIBERTINISM— S.  CLEMENT 
ON  ABSTINENCE  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

though  they  agreed  with  Marcion  and    the  Encratites 

in  their  contempt  of  matter,  and  in  their  enmity  to  its 

Creator,  ran  into  the  opposite  extreme  of  Hcentious- 

ness,  as   has    been    observed    (above,  pp.    191  — 197), 

and  gave  free  reins  to  the  passions,  and  to  the  abuse 

of  the  body  by  excesses  of  dissolute  hbertinism  (p.  529), 

and  by  communism  in  marriage,  after  "  the  manner  of 

brute  beasts,  which  have  no  understanding  "  (cp.  2  Pet. 

ii.  12  ;  Jude  10). 

S.  Clement  takes  the  middle  path,  and  while  he 
extols  the  happiness  of  a  celibate  life,  dedicated  to 
God,  he  declares  the  sanctity  of  Marriage,  and  the 
love  and  comfort  of  the  society  of  man  and  wife  in  a 
chaste  conjugal  union,  and  the  blessedness  of  children 
and  of  a  Christian  family  (pp.  502,  529,  530,  533/540- 

Our  rule,  he  says,  with  regard  to  Marriage  and 
Food  and  Drink,  ought  to  be,  not  to  condemn  God's 
creatures,  which  is  blasphemy  against  the  Creator 
(p.  530),  but  to  use  His  creatures  and  gifts,  not  in  the 
slavery  of  concupiscence,  but  with  soberness,  chastity, 
and  temperance,  and  with  love  and  thankfulness  to 
the  Almighty  Giver  of  all  good.  Men  are  at  liberty 
either  to  marry,  or  to  abstain  from  Marriage.  Celibacy 
is  not  in  itself  better  than  Marriage.  They  who  to 
avoid  distraction  have  remained  unmarried,  have  often 
become  misanthropic  and  uncharitable  ;  while  on  the 
other  hand  other  persons  who  have  married,  have 
given  themselves  up  to  sensuality  (p.  541).  Marriage 
and  Single-life  have  each  their  peculiar  duties.  Let 
every  one  do  his  own  duty  in  that  state  of  life  to 
which  he  is  called  ;  that  he  may  become  free  in  Christ, 
and  receive  his  reward  from  Him  :  he  quotes  St.  Paul 
as  confirming  this  opinion  (pp.  546,  550,  551,  555). 

One  part  of  S.  Clement's  design,  as  has  been  said. 


S.   CLEMENT  ON  FALSE  GNOSIS -AND  TRUE,      261 

was  to  refute  heretics,  and  to  show  that  their ^;^^i-/i-  was 
ignorance,  folly,  and  falsehood  ;  that  it  came  under  the 
Apostle's  condemnation  of  "science,  falsely  so  called" 
(i  Tim.  vi.  20),  and  "vain  philosophy  "  (Col.  ii.  8)  ;  and 
that  it  led  to  impious  and  immoral  consequences. 

The  other  part  of  his  undertaking  was  to  vindicate 
and  establish  the  truth,  and  to  show  that  Christianity 
was  the  only  trite  gnosis,  and  that  the  Christian  was 
the  only  gemdne  Gnos'tic,  and  also  to  describe  his 
character  as  such. 

In  doing  this,  he  takes  a  large  and  comprehensive 
view.  He  declares  that  all  Knowledge  is  from  God  ; 
that  He  is  the  sole  fountain  and  well-spring  of  all  that 
is  true,  just,  wise,  noble,  holy,  and  beautiful  that  ever 
existed  in  the  Gentile  World,  as  well  as  in  the  Hebrew 
Nation  ;  and  that  all  the  fair  streams  of  truth  and 
loveliness  flowed  forth  from  the  LOGOS,  the  divinely 
appointed  Teacher  and  Educator  of  Mankind. 
Clement  had  shown  this  in  his  other  work,  the 
"  Paedagogus."  He  did  not  (with  Tertullian,  Irenseus, 
and  Hippolytus)  reject  Gentile  Philosophy  as  the 
source  of  evil,  but  he  regarded  it,  especially  Platonism, 
as  having  many  elements  of  good,  which  ought  to 
be  filtered  off  from  the  evil,  and  applied  to  the  use  of 
the  Church.  In  his  view  the  "  wisdom  of  the  ancients 
was  a  part  of  God's  plan  in  educating  the  world." 
The  Gentile  Philosophers  and  Poets  were  Prophets 
of  a  universal  Humanity.  They  were  not  indeed 
such  in  all  respects, — far,  very'  far  from  it.  Indeed 
he  displays  their  manifold  failings  and  vices,®  but  so 


9  He  speaks  (p.  487)  of  certain  Powers  alluring  the  animal  man  by- 
pleasures,  as  cattle  are  led  on  by  green  boughs.  In  Potter's  edition, 
p.  487,  it  is  QaXKovs  irpocrUvTes. ,,  The  true  reading  is  Trpoaeiovres,  i.e. 
**  shaking  boughs  de/ore  cattle  in  order  to  lure  them  on."  It  is  a  Platonic 
phrase,  daWovs  irpoaeUiy.     See  Ruhnken's  Timseus  in  z/.,  p.  136. 


262  S.  CLEMENT  AND  RICHARD  HOOKER  ON 

KNOWLEDGE. 

far  as  they  delivered  what  was  true,  just,  wise,  pure, 

lovely,^  and  graceful,  they  were  ministers  of  the  Logos 

Himself,^  in  Whom  are  hidden  all  the  "  treasures  of 

divine  wisdom,"  and  Who  dispenses  them  to  Man. 

In  this  respect  Clement  anticipated  the  eloquent 
pleadings  of  our  great  philosophical  theologian 
Richard  Hooker,^  against  the  narrow-minded  and 
rigid  notions  of  the  Puritans  in  his  day,  who  contended 
that  because  St.  Paul  censured  "  science  falsely  so 
called''  and  ''vain  philosophy,"  the  Apostle  was  there- 
fore an  enemy  to  science  and  philosophy.  To  them 
Hooker  rejoined  in  a  noble  Apology  for  God's  infinite 
Wisdom  and  Love  to  men  in  every  age.  He  affirms 
that  to  refute  "  vain  philosophy,"  and  to  confound 
"  false  science,"  sound  philosophy  and  true  science 
are  needed  ;  and  he  then  says,  in  words  which  might 
be  applied  to  describe  the  Alexandrine  theology, — 

"  There  is  in  the  world  no  kind  of  knowledge  whereby 
any  part  of  truth  is  seen,  but  we  justly  account  it 
precious  ;  yea,  that  principal  truth,  in  comparison 
whereof  all  other  knowledge  is  vile,  may  receive  from 
it  some  kind  of  light ;  whether  it  be  that  Egyptian 
and  Chaldaean  wisdom  mathematical,  wherewith 
Moses  and  Daniel  were  furnished  ;  or  that  natural, 
moral,  and  civil  wisdom,  wherein  Solomon  excelled  all 
men  ;  or  that  rational  and  oratorial   wisdom  of  the 

^  St.  Paul  himself, — who  quotes  heathen  poets,  Menander,  Epi- 
menides,  and  Aratus, — seems  to  give  countenance  to  this  more  liberal  and 
generous  Alexandrine  view  in  Phil.  iv.  8,  rather  than  to  the  more  stern 
and  morose  theory  of  some  other  schools. 

2  Philosophy  in  his  view  was  a  handmaid  to  Christianity  ;  a  Hagar  to 
Sarah  ;  a  Lamp  kindled  from  the  Light  of  the  Logos  (pp.  333,  335,  663). 
But  Clement  exercises  a  wise  discrimination,  and  gives  an  excellent 
summary  of  the  tenets  of  heathen  philosophical  Schools  in  his  Second 
Book  of  Stromateis,  and  compares  them  with  some  Gnostic  Heresies, 
pp.  488—500;  see  also  pp.  514— 539' 

5  Hooker,  III.  viii.  9. 


S.   CLEMENT  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  263 

Grecians,  which  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  brought  from 
Tarsus  ;  or  that  Judaical  which  he  learned  in  Jerusalem 
sitting  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel.  To  detract  from  the 
dignity  whereof,  were  to  do  injury  even  to  God  Him- 
self, Who  being  that  Light  which  none  can  approach 
unto,  hath  sent  out  those  lights  whereof  we  are  capable, 
even  as  so  many  bright  sparkles  resembling  the  bright 
fountain  from  which  they  rise." 

In  a  like  spirit  Clement  affirms  that  true  Philosophy 
and  genuine  Science  are  necessary  to  arm  the  Christian 
Gnostic  against  the  sophistry  and  subtlety  of  vain 
Philosophy  and  of  Science  falsely  so  called''  (pp.  278  ; 
cp.  338,  339,  655). 

But  Clement  went  further  than  this  ;  he  affirmed 
that  the  Gentiles  were  justified  by  their  Philosophy  so 
far  as  it  was  true,  as  the  Hebrews  were  by  the  Law, 
and  as  Christians  are  by  faith  in  the  Gospel ;  and  that 
Gentile  Philosophy  as  well  as  the  Mosaic  Law  was 
preparatory  to  the  Gospel. 

When  however  Clement  speaks  of  justification  to 
be  obtained  by  Philosophy,  he  did  not  mean  that 
Philosophy  could  lead  men  on  to  the  perfection  of 
their  moral  and  spiritual  being,  and  qualify  them  to 
attain  everlasting  life.  No  ;  he  held  that  Redemption 
by  the  Incarnate  God  was  absolutely  necessary  for 
the  restoration  of  their  fallen  nature  to  favour  and 
communion  with  God,  but  that  it  might  serve  as  a 
preparation  for  the  attainment  of  these  ultimate  ends 
(pp.  282,  319,  636,  644.     Cp.  Neander,  ii.  274,  275). 

According  to  him,  the  problem  to  be  solved  by  the 

^  It  may  lie  suggested  here,  that  a  study  of  the  method  pursued  by 
S.  Clement,  and  developed  in  his  writings,  would  be  very  serviceable 
to  the  Christian  Missionary,  who  has  to  deal  with  the  philosophical 
systems  of  India  and  the  East. 


1^^  KNOWLEDGE  PERFECTED  IN  LOVE  BY  GRACE. 

true  Gnostic  was  to  transfigure  Philosophy  by  Chris- 
tianity, and  to  consecrate  natural  gifts  to  the  service 
of  the.  Gospel.  "  The  wild  olive,"  (he  well  says,)  "  is 
not  lacking  in  sap,  but  it  fails  in  the  power  of  digesting 
the  sap,  which  flows  within  it  abundantly."  Philosophy 
is  a  wild  olive  ;  but  whenever  it  receives  the  divine 
power  of  Faith  grafted  into  it,  the  sap,  being 
Christianized,  makes  it  to  become  a  noble,  good  olive- 
tree  (p.  672). 

Gnosis,  or  knowledge,  according  to  Clement,  is  not 
born  with  men  (as  some  Gnostics  asserted),  but  is 
acquired  by  an  act  of  the  human  mind  and  the  will,  and 
it  grows  by  nourishment  of  divine  grace  from  above, 
and  by  virtuous  habits,  till  it  becomes  divine  Love 
(p.  779).  It  apprehends  all  Truth  concerning  good 
and  evil,  and  understands  the  meaning  of  our  Lord's 
sayings.  But  in  this  life  it  is  not  mere  contemplation 
or  barren  speculation  ;  it  is  to  be  discerned,  not  by 
luxuriant  leaves  and  bright  flowers,  but  by  the  rich 
mellow  fruits  of  a  holy  life.  It  is  Death  to  what  is  evil, 
and  Life  to  what  is  good  and  divine  :  so  that  knowing, 
living,  and  loving,  become  one  and  the  same  thing 
(pp.  444,  531,  874).  The  true  Gnosis  is  derived  from 
Christ,  by  Whom  it  was  imparted  to  His  Apostles,  and 
by  them  to  their  successors  in  the  Church  (pp.  333,  348, 
682,  736,  756,771).  It  appropriates  and  subordinates 
all  human  knowledge  to  itself  (pp.  779,  780).  Chris- 
tianity, derived  from  the  Scriptures,  is  the  leaven  which 
leavens  all  human  science.  Gnosis  is  the  perfection 
of  Man,  and  is  consummated  by  the  science  of  divine 
things,  and  by  being  in  union  with  itself,  and  with  the 
Divine  Word,  in  life  and  conversation.  It  is  above 
Faith  (p.  794).  It  is  the  superstructure  of  Faith 
(PP-  ^39)  865).     Faith  is  perfected  through  it;   the 


FAITH  TRANSFIGURED  INTO  LOVE— THE  TRUE  2Q^ 
GNOSTIC. 

believer  is  consummated  by  it.     Faith  confesses  and 

glorifies  God  (p.  599),  and  grows  by  His  grace  into 

Knowledge  of  Him,  and  is  transfigured  into  Love  of 

Him,   and    into    union    and    communion    with    Him 

(pp.  864,  865,  883).     It  divinizes  humanity. 

He  held  that  the  simple  believer  is  impelled  to  good 
by  the  fear  of  punishment  and  hope  of  reward,  but 
that  the  Christian  Gnostic  is  stimulated  to  all  his  efforts 
by  the  free  impulse  of  love,  through  which  the  future 
is  made  present  to  him,  so  that  he  lives  a  daily  life  in 
God  (pp.  518,  519,  645,  652).  At  the  same  time  he 
shuns  the  error  of  the  Gn  ostics,  by  whom  it  was  said 
that  there  were  originally  different  types  of  souls,  some 
animal,  others  spiritual,  predestined  by  fatal  necessity 
to  different  ends. — No :  in  his  system  there  were  no  such 
predestined  oligarchies,  and  fatalistic  aristocracies,  in 
the  world  of  Grace.  All  men  were  capable  of  Faith, 
and  all  men  may  be  recipients  of  the  true  gnosis, 
which  is  spiritualized  into  love. 

The  true  Gnostic,^  being  united  to  God  through 
Christ,  is  described  as  living  a  life  of  Prayer  to  Him, 
that  his  sins  may  be  forgiven,  and  that  he  may  sin 
no  more,  and  may  be  able  to  do  good  Works,  and 
may  understand  the  whole  plan  of  the  divine  creation 
and  dispensation  ;  so.  that  being  pure  in  heart,  through 
the  perfect  knowledge  which  is  by  the  Son  of  God,  he 
may  be  initiated  face  to  face  in  that  blessed  contempla- 
tion ;  and  be  like  Moses,  whose  countenance  shone 
brightly  with  divine  irradiation  from  the  vision  of 
God  (pp.  791,  792). 

The  true  Gnostic  cherishes  piety  to  God,  equity  and 
charity  to  man,  chastity  and  purity  in  himself.     He  is 

^  The  whole  of  the  seventh  Book  describing  the  true  Gnostic,  may  be 
commended  to  the  careful  attention  of  the  reader. 


266  THE  TRUE  GNOSTIC— HIS  DAILY  LIFE. 

ever  giving  thanks  to  God  for  all  things,  and  holding 
communion  with  Him  by  religious  reading,  and  by 
hearing  of  what  is  divine  ;  by  diligent  search  after 
truth,  by  holy  oblations,  and  blessed  supplications. 
He  is  ever  praising  God,  and  never  separated  from 
Him  (p.  797).  He  is  perfected  by  this  communion 
with  God  through  the  Great  High  Priest,  and  by 
transformation  to  the  likeness  of  God  (pp.  835,  836, 
'^17.  8.39,  858). 

The  Gnostic  eats  and  drinks,  and  marries  a  wife, 
not  for  the  sake  of  these  things  absolutely,  but  in 
loving  obedience  to  God.  Whatever  the  Logos 
prescribes,  he  does.  He  follows  the  example  of 
Apostles,  and  shows  that  he  is  a  man  with  human 
sympathies,  not  by  choosing  a  monastic  life  (p.  874)  ; 
but  he  surpasses  man  by  being  inseparable  from  the 
love  of  God. 

When  he  marries,  and  has  children,  and  has  a  house- 
hold to  care  for,  he  exercises  himself  in  these  things,' 
without  seeking  carnal  delight,  and  without  anxiety, 
and  overcomes  the  trials  and  temptations  which  arise 
from  children,  and  from  a  wife,  and  from  servants,  and 
from  earthly.possessions  ;  and  he  dwells  calmly  among 
them  all  without  passion  or  perturbation,  and  desires 
only  to  be  able  to  say  to  God,  "  O  God,  as  Thou  wiliest, 
so  I  will,  and  so  I  live." 

Every  soul  which  abstains  from  sin,  and  waits  for 
its  Lord  in  love,  is  a  chaste  virgin.  A  widow  becomes 
a  virgin  by  temperance  and  holiness  of  life. 

The  Gnostic  is  the  true  Athlete,  crowned  for  havine 
gained  true  victory,  the  victory  over  his  own  passions, 
in  the  stadium  of  this  beautiful  world.  God  is  the 
Agonothetes  ^    (the    Institutor   of  the  contest)  ;    His 

^  Compare  the  eloquent  passages  of  Tertullian,   ad  Martyras,  c.  3, 


THE  GNOSTIC  AN  ATHLETE— A   TEMPLE- A      267 
WORSHIPPER— HIS  TEMPERANCE. 

Only-begotten  Son  distributes  the  prizes  ;    the  holy 

Angels  are  the  spectators   (cp.  Heb.  xii.  I,  2).     The 

contest  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  the 

spiritual    power    of    passions   working   by   the   flesh 

(P-  839)- 

The  Gnostic  is  also  a  true  temple  ;  his  heart  is  a 
true  altar  (p.  848),  and  he  offers  thereon  true  sacrifices 
(p.  850).  All  time  is  holy  to  him ;  every  day  a  festival 
(p.  858).  He  is  ever  speaking  to  God  in  prayer  (pp.  854, 
875),  and  is  united  to  the  heavenly  choir  in  singing 
hymns  in  his  heart  (p.  85 1 ).  Angels  are  present  at  his 
prayers  (p.  879).  He  remembers  that  God  hears  his 
thoughts  (p.  852)  ;  he  therefore  always  speaks  the  truth 
(p.  864).  He  knows  that  God  is  the  Ear  and  Eye  of  the 
World  (p.  853).  His  life  is  one  holy-day  ;  he  keeps  a 
continual  Lord's  Day  (p.  '^yy)  ;  and  yet  he  has  special 
times  for  prayer  and  praise.  He  says  grace  before 
meals  ;  and  sings  psalms  and  hymns  before  bed-time, 
and  when  reposing ;  he  reads  the  Scriptures  daily 
(p.  860),  and  keeps  the  appointed  fasts  of  Wednesday 
and  Friday  (p.  ^yj)  ;  above  all,  he  fasts  from  sin. 

The  Gnostic  is  temperate,  not  for  the  sake  of  worldly 
praise,  or  worldly  advantage,  as  some  are,  who  in  fact 
are  impelled  to  do  good  by  bad  motives  ;  he  is 
not  temperate  for  the  sake  of  health,  or  for  love  of 
the  body,  or  because  he  is  insensible  to  temptation  : 
such  persons  are  not  really  temperate.  Nor  is  he 
temperate  under  the  influence  of  fear.  But  he  is 
temperate  because  he  loves  God,  and  because  he  is  the 
friend  of  God,  and  the  child  of  God. 

'■*  Bonum  agonem  subituri  estis,  in  quo  agonothetes  Deus  vivus  est ; 
xystarches  Spiritus  Sanctus  (i.e.  qui  ungit  athletas  sua  divina  unctione); 
corona  teternitatis,  brabium  angelic£e  substantias,  politia  in  coelis  j"  and 
de  Spectaculis,  c.  29. 


268  HIS  CONDUCT  TO  OTHERS-HIS  UNION  WITH  GOD. 

The  true  Gnostic  forgives  injuries  (p.  88 1);  he  bears 
no  mahce,  and  never  retahates  (p.  869).  His  principle 
being  love,  he  does  his  duty  cheerfully  to  all  for  the 
sake  of  God  in  Christ  (pp.  542,  858,  8^4).  He  regards 
his  enemies  as  brethren  (p.  854),  and  prays  for  the 
salvation  of  all,  and  desires  to  instruct  all  (pp.  855,  862, 
863)  ;  and  having  firm  trust  in  God,  he  is  not  afraid  of 
danger,  disease,  or  death  (p.  868)  ;  he  is  happy  at  the 
approach  of  death  (p.  868),  and  gives  God  thanks.' 

He  is  ever  a  Confessor  of  God,  and  a  Martyr  in  will 
(p.  570). 

Finally,  he  is  the  friend  of  God,  and  son  of  God 
(pp.  768,  882,  889)  ;  he  is  equal  to  the  Angels  ;  he  is 
an  imitator  of  Christ  (p.  157)  ;  he  is  a  partaker  of  the 
divine  nature  ;  and  though  dwelling  in  the  body,  yet 
being  spiritually  united  to  God,  he  even  becomes  god  ^ 
(pp.  71,  88,  156,  484,  494,  792,  803,  816,  894). 

^  Clement  mentions  (p.  869)  St.  Peter's  saying  to  his  wife  going 
before  him  to  martyrdom,  "  Remember  the  Lord."  Such,  he  says,  is 
the  marriage  of  Saints. 

8  This  is  strong  language,  but  it  is  also  used  by  contemporary  writers 
of  a  different  school  :  S.  Irenseus,  iv.  75,  and  v.  2  ;  and  by  S. 
Hippolytus,  see  Refut.  Hser.  p.  339,  ed.  Miller,  and  the  note  in  my 
Hippolytus,  pp.  122,  123  ;  and  Psalm  Ixxxii.  6,  "I  have  said,  Ye  are 
gods;"  and  John  x.  35;  and  S.  Peter  {2  Pet.  i.  4),  "partakers  of 
the  divine  nature."  And  Athanasius  says  in  his  treatise  on  the  Incar- 
nation, c.  54,  that  "the  Word  became  flesh,  W  ^/ue?s  0eo7ro/7j0i^6i/  (that 
we  might  be  divinized)."  And  our  own  Richard  Hooker — in  his  marvellous 
Essay  on  the  two  Natures,  and  one  Person,  of  Christ,  and  on  the  relation 
of  the  Sacraments  to  the  Godhead  and  Incarnation  of  Christ  (Eccl. 
Pol.  V.  li. — V.  lix. ) — says  that  God  in  Christ  has  "  deified  our  nature '» 
(V.  liv.  5). 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Defenders  of  the  Faith —  Origen. 

Between  Clement  and  S.  Hippolytus  is  Origen,  the 
scholar  of  the  former,  and  acquainted  with  the  latter. 

He  was  born  at  Alexandria,^  A.D.  185  ;  the  eldest 
of  eleven  children  of  a  faithful  Christian  father, 
Leonides,  who  brought  him  up  in  sacred  and  secular 
learning.  He  made  the  boy  learn  some  portions  of 
Scripture  daily,  and  thanked  God  for  giving  him  such 
a  son.  His  father  had  a  presentiment  of  his  son's  future 
career.  He  used  to  kiss  his  breast  when  he  was  asleep, 
as  a  temple  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  deigned  to  dwell 
(Euseb.  vi.  2). 

In  the  persecution  that  broke  out  in  Africa  under 
the  Emperor  Septimius  Severus,  Origen  longed  to  be 
a  martyr  ;  his  mother  took  away  his  clothes_,  and  kept 
him  indoors.  But  he  wrote  to  his  father,  and  exhorted 
him  to  quit  himself  like  a  man  (Euseb.  vi.  2).  .  Leonides 
suffered  martyrdom  ;  and  Origen  was  afterwards  often 
in  danger  of  death  for  the  faith. 

Demetrius,  his  Bishop,  invited  him  soon  afterward 
(about  A.D.  203  ;  see  Euseb.  vi.  6)  to  the  headship  of 
the  Catechetical  School  in  Alexandria,  where  he  had 

^  On  the  biography  of  Origen  see  Huetii  Origeniana,  lib.  i.  chapters 
I — 4,  and  on  his  writings,  ibid.  lib.  ii.,  and  Dr.  TheodorKeim,  "  Celsus 
Wahres  Wort,"  Zurich  1873,  p.  172. 


270  ORIGEN—HIS  TRAVELS  AND  TRAINING. 

been  a  scholar  of  S.  Clement.  As  there  was  no 
salary  attached  to  the  office,  he  mortgaged  some  of  his 
beautifully-written  books  for  a  daily  pension  of  four 
oboli,  about  sixpence,  on  which  he  lived.  He  led  a 
life  of  rigid  self-denial  (Epiphan.  Hser.  64.  S.  Jerome, 
Ep.  41.  Gregor.  Thaum.  in  Origen.  p.  6j)\  he  walked 
barefoot,  and  slept  on  the  ground  ;  and  as  he  had 
female  scholars  as  well  as  young  men,  and  as  he 
wished  to  avoid  scandal  and  temptation,  he,  who  after- 
wards was  distinguished  for  somewhat  fanciful  and 
allegorical  interpretations  of  Scripture,  misapplied 
in  his  own  person,  and  in  the  literal  sense,  our  Lord's 
words  in  Matt.  xix.  12  (Euseb.  vi.  8.  S.  Jerome, 
Epist.  41  ad  Pammach.). 

He  attended  lectures  of  the  famous  Teacher  of  Neo- 
Platonism,  Ammonius  Saccas,  the  master  of  Plotinus 
(Euseb.  vi.  19),  and  was  much  influenced  in  his  own 
theological  views  by  that  teaching.  His  proficiency  in 
the  study  of  Greek  Philosophy  is  testified  by  an  enemy 
of  the  faith.  Porphyry  (Euseb.  vi.  19). 

In  Alexandria  he  came  in  contact  with  Schools  of 
Gentile  philosophy  and  of  Christian  theology,  especially 
Gnostics.  He  travelled  to  Italy,  visited  Rome  in  the 
time  of  Zephyrinus,  heard  there  a  sermon  of  Hippoly- 
tus  ;  made  a  tour  in  Greece,  Asia,  and  Palestine,  and 
thus  acqyired  that  multifarious  and  encyclopaedic 
learning,  which  enabled  him  to  make  himself  all  things 
to  all  men,  and  to  win  over  many  to  the  faith. 

Fortunately  for  him  and  for  the  Church,  he  became 
acquainted  with  Ambrosius,  a  wealthy,  munificent,  and 
devout  Christian  of  Alexandria,  who  by  his  pious  libe- 
rality supplied  him  with  the  aid  of  secretaries,  tran- 
scribers, and  books,  and  enabled  him  to  found  a  School 
of  Biblical  Criticism  in  the  Church 


HIS  STUDIES— AND  ORDINA  TION.  271 

He  gave  himself  to  the  study  of  Hebrew  (S.Jerome, 
Scr.  Eccl.  54,  and  contr.  Rufin.  i.  3) ;  the  history  of 
his  wonderful  industry  in  collating  Manuscripts  of 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scriptures  and  their  different 
Versions,  and  in  compiling  his  Teirapla  and  Hexapla," 
a  labour  of  twenty-eight  }'ears,  encouraged  by  the  aid 
of  Ambrosius  at  Ca^sarea  in  Palestine,  and  also 
by  that  of  a  Christian  Lady,  Juliana,  at  Caesarea  in 
Cappadocia,  will  be  found  described  in  all  works  on 
Biblical  Philology  and  Hermeneutics. 

Unhappily  his  Bishop,  Demetrius,  who  held  the  See 
of  Alexandria  forty-three  years  (a.d.  189 — 232.  Euseb. 
vi.  26),  and  who  had  formerly  supported  him,  became 
jealous  and  suspicious  of  him,  especially  after  Origen's 
journey  to  Jerusalem  and  Csesarea  in  Palestine,  and  on 
account  ofhis  connexion  with  the  two  Bishops  of  those 
cities,  Alexander  and  Theoctistus,  by  whom  he  was 
ordained  Presbyter,  A.D.  228,  in  the  forty-third  year 
of  his  age  ^  (Euseb.  vi.  19,  23). 

Demetrius  recalled  him  to  Alexandria,  summoned 
two  Councils  of  some  few  Bishops  and  Clergy,  in  the 
latter  of  which  he  was  censured  for  the  rash  act  of 
his  youth,  and  for  his  uncanonical  ordination  by  an 
extra-diocesan  Bishop.  He  was  also  deposed  and 
excommunicated     for     heretical    doctrines,    perhaps 


2  The  Hexapla  consisted  of  the  Hebrew  text  of  the  Old  Testament ; 
the  same  in  Greek  letters  ;  and  the  following  Versions  of  it :  Septuagint  ; 
that  of  Aquila  the  Jew,  probably  made  A.D.  130;  of  Symmachus,  an 
Ebionite  (under  Marcus  Aurelius) ;  of  Theodotion,  A.D.  184;  a  fifth 
Version,  found  in  a  cask  with  other  MS  S.  at  Jericho  by  Origen,  a.d.  217 
(Euseb.  vi.  16) ;  a  sixth  found  in  a  cask  with  other  MSS.  at  Nicopolis 
by  Origen,  a.d.  228.  He  had  a  seventh  Version  containing  only  the 
Psalms.     Euseb.  vi.  16;  cp.  Epiphan.  H^er.  64. 

'^  An  irregularity  in  ordination  afterwards  prohibited  by  the  Council 
of  Niccea,  canon  16. 


272  CONTROVERSIES  CONCERNING  ORIGEN. 

contained  in  his  work  Trept  apyjhv,  then  lately  published 
but  modified  afterwards  by  him ''  (see  above,  p.  121). 

In  that  treatise,  TrepX  ap^oiv  (or,  on  the  first  princi- 
ples of  theological  teaching),  he  refutes  the  heresy  of 
Valentinus  and  Marcion  on  the  origin  of  the  world, 
and  in  opposition  to  their  two  theories,  either  of 
development,  or  dualism  and  fatal  necessity,  he  teaches 
that  there  is  but  one  First  Cause,  perfectly  good 
and  wise  and  immutable, — God  ;  but  that  all  creatures 
are  liable  to  change,  and  that  the  evil  of  the  rational 
creature  is  due  to  its  abuse  of  free-will  (i.  8  ;  ii.  1,8; 
iii.  i).  But  he  asserts  that  God  had  created  a  definite 
number  of  pure  spirits  who  have  abused  their  free- 
will, and  have  been  consigned  to  certain  bodies,  created 
as  penitentiaries  and  prisons,  for  their  correction,  and 
being  consigned  to  these  prisons  they  have  ceased  to 
be  pure  spirits,  and  have  become  souls  of  angels,  stars, 
or  men.  These  spirits  may  become  better  or  worse. 
Finally,  he  imagined  that  the  devil  and  his  angels, 
being  chastened  by  this  punitive  and  remedial  process, 
will  cease  to  be  enemies  of  God  ;  and  a  succession  of 
new  creations  will  follow,  and  of  new  worlds  (i.  6  ; 
ii.  I,  3,  and  6).  These  theories  were  perhaps  derived 
from  Platonism  (Plat.  Gorg.  478.     Fleury,  ii.  107). 

The  Churches  in  Palestine,  Phoenicia,  Arabia,  Achaia, 
and  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  sided  v\  ith  Origen.  The 
Roman  Church  concurred  with  that  of  Alexandria  and 
those  of  Egypt  in  condemning  him  (see  the  authorities 
in  Tillemont,  iii.  534,  535). 

A  fact  pleaded  in  favour  of  Origen  is,  that  on  the 
death  of  Denietrius  a  few  months  after  Origen's  con- 
demnation, A.D.  231,  the  friend  and  colleague  of  Origen, 

*  Cp.  Euseb.  vi.  23,  36,  37  ;  S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  c.  62,  and  contra 
Rufinum  iv.  p.  41 1;  Ep.  29  ad  Paulam,  iv.  p.  68,  ed.  Bened.  1706. 


OlilGEN'S  LIFE  AND   WRITINGS.  273 

Heraclas,  head  of  the  Catechetical  School,  was  chosen 
to  fill  the  vacant  See  of  Alexandria,  and  the  place  of 
Heraclas  in  the  School  was  filled  by  a  pupil  of 
Origen,  the  celebrated  Dionysius,  called  the  Great, 
who  afterwards  succeeded  Heraclas  in  the  Bishopric. 
At  the  same  time,  on  the  other  hand,  no  effort  seems 
to  have  been  made  to  rescind  the  condemnatory  sen- 
tence on  Origen. 

He  quitted  Alexandria  for  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia, 
where  he  was  received  by  the  Bishop,  FirmiHan,  and 
where  he  was  assisted  by  the  liberality  above  men- 
tioned of  Juliana,  who  sheltered  him  in  the  time  of 
persecution  under  the  Emperor  Maximin  the  Thracian 
(a.d.  235 — 238).  There  he  met  with  the  Version  of 
the  Ebionite  Symmachus,  which  he  incorporated  in 
his  Hexapla. 

After  the  death  of  Maximin  he  returned  to  Caesarea 
in  Palestine  ;  he  also  visited  Nicomedia  and  Athens, 
where  he  resided  for  some  time. 

He  endured  imprisonment  and  torture  for  the  Faith 
in  the  persecution  under  the  Emperor  Decius,  A.D.  250 ; 
and  at  length,  worn  out  by  labours  and  sufferings,  he 
died  at  Tyre,  A.D.  254,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age. 

In  contemplating  the  work  of  Origen  as  a  Theo- 
logical Teacher,  we  recognize  a  development  of  the 
system  of  his  predecessor  and  instructor  S.  Clement. 

Like  Clement,  he  desired  to  make  all  Literature  and 
Philosophy,  especially  the  Platonic,  to  be  subservient 
and  tributary  to  Christianity  ;  and  by  his  wonderful 
many-sidedness  and  versatility  he  came  into  contact 
and  sympathetic  communion  with  minds  of  all  classes, 
temperaments,  and  antecedents,  and  thus  he  won  many 
to  Christianity. 

T 


274  O  RIG  EN'S  SYSTEM  OF  TEACHING. 

His  method  and  process  were  to  begin  with  attract- 
ing them  to  himself  by  love  of  knowledge  as  such,— 
it  might  be  secular  knowledge  and  literature,  in  which 
he  was  thoroughly  conversant, — and  then  to  inspire 
them  with  a  love  of  divine  and  eternal  things  ;  and  to 
show  them  the  imperfection  and  inadequacy  of  all 
Gentile  systems  of  Philosophy  to  satisfy  the  just 
cravings  of  human  nature  ;  and  to  exhibit  to  them  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity  as  alone  corresponding  to  all 
its  needs,  and-  realizing  all  its  aspirations.  He  then 
initiated  them  in  his  system  of  Scriptural  Interpreta- 
tion, which  was  threefold,  literal,  allegorical,  and 
anagogieal'''  (i.  e.  leading  upward  to  the  highest  spiritual 
contemplation),  and  he  prepared  many  of  them,  such 
as  Heraclas  his  successor,  Dionysius  of  Alexandria, 
and  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  to  be  eminent  Teachers 
of  Christianity  and  Bishops  of  the  Church.  He 
preached  every  Sunday  and  Friday.^ 

In  a  remarkable  letter  to  the  last  mentioned,  Gregory 
Thaumaturgus,  Bishop  of  Neo-Caesarea,  he  unfolds  his 
own  system  (Philocal.  c.  13,  p.  41,  Spencer). 

He  exhorts  him  to  make  himself  master  of  every- 
thing in  the  cycle  of  Literature,  Science,  and  Philo- 
sophy, that  could  be  pressed  into  the  service  of  the 

"  See  Philocalia,  c.  i  in  Mattli.  tract.  12,  horn.  25.  The  Philocalia 
of  Origen  is  an  Anthology  culled  from  his  writings  by  the  affectionate  care 
of  S.  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  S.  Basil,  and  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  instructive  collections  of  the  kind  ;  it  is  very  valuable  as  placing 
in  one  view  the  opinions  of  Origen  on  the  Divine  Inspiration  of  Scrip- 
ture ;  on  its  contents  ;  its  style ;  the  necessity  of  continued  and  earnest 
study  of  it  ;  on  its  interpretation  ;  on  some  popular  objections  against 
Christianity,  e.  g.  the  existence  of  heresies  and  schisms  in  the  Church  ; 
the  alleged  simplicity  of  Christian  believers  ;  on  indififerentism  ;  on  the 
true  grounds  and  nature  of  Faith  ;  on  the  harmony  of  Divine  Fore- 
knowledge and  Grace,  and  Muman  Free-will. 

<•  Homil.  7  in  Exod.,  horn.  5  in  Esaiani. 


ON  THE  CONSECRATION  OF  SECULAR  LEARNING.     275 

Church.  He  tells  him,  that,  as  by  God's  command 
the  Israelites  appropriated  the  spoils  of  heathen 
Egypt,  the  gold  and  silver  and  raiment,  and  applied 
and  dedicated  them  to  the  structure  and  adornment 
of  God's  own  dwelling,  the  migratory  Tabernacle  in 
the  Wilderness,  so  the  true  Israelite,  the  Christian 
Teacher,  ought  to  adopt  and  consecrate  the  spoils 
of  all  heathen  Learning  to  the  building  up  and  decora- 
tion of  the  Church  of  God.  ''  I  exhort  thee,  therefore, 
my  son,  to  study  above  all  things  the  Holy  Scriptures  ; 
and  study  them  earnestly.  This  is  necessary,  that  we 
may  not  speak  rashly,  or  form  hasty  opinions  on  their 
sacred  contents.  Study  them  with  faith  and  prayer, 
with  unw^avering  faith  and  fervent  prayer  ;  knock  at 
the  closed  door  of  Scripture  ;  to  such  an  one  '  the 
porter  openeth '  (John  x.  3).^  Ask,  and  ye  shall  have  ; 
knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you."  He  declares 
that  the  teaching  and  hearing  of  Scripture,  in  order  to 
be  profitable,  ought  to  be  accompanied  with  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Holy  Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  Christ  ;  and  that  as  the  devout  Communicant  takes 
care  not  to  let  fall  any  part  of  the  consecrated  elements, 
so  he  ought  to  treat  with  equal  reverence  the  inspired 
Word  of  God  (Homil.  in  Exod.  11  and  13  ;  and  Rom. 
xvi.  lib.  10). 

In  Origen  also  we  see  the  fruits  of  S.  Clement's  teach- 

7  The  reader  may  remember  an  interesting  passage  of  S.  Augustine 
(in  one  of  his  Sermons,  Serm.  51)  concerning  his  own  practice  as  an 
expositor  of  Scripture  at  different  times  of  his  life  :  "  When  I  was  young, 
I  approached  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  acuteness  of  dispu- 
tation, and  not  with  piety  of  inquiry  ;  and  thus  by  my  moral  perversity 
/  closed  the  door  of  the  divine  Scriptures  against  myself ;  I  ought  to  have 
knocked  at  the  door  in  order  that  it  might  be  opened  to  m.e,  but  I  made 
it  more  fast  against  myself,  for  I  presumed  to  seek  with  pride  what 
none  can  find  but  by  humility.  How  much  happier  are  you  who  are 
meek,  than  I  was  then,  when  I  was  proud. " 

T    2 


276    HIS  METHOD  OF  SCRIPTURAL  INTERPRETATION. 

ing  as  to  the  true  Gnostic,  and  genuine  Gnosticism  ; 
and  as  to  the  relation  of  Knowledge  to  Faith. 

Earnest  as  he  was  in  his  exhortations  to  the  study 
of  Holy  Scripture ;  uncompromising  as  he  was  in 
affirming  the  divine  Inspiration  and  inestimable  value 
of  every  part  of  it  ;  diligent  as  he  was  in  examining, 
meditating,  and  commenting  upon  it,  in  homilies  and 
other  writings  ;  indefatigable  as  he  was  in  his  endea- 
vours to  investigate  and  establish  the  genuine  Text 
of  Scripture,  and  its  correct  literal  interpretation,  by 
his  Biblical  labours  for  nearly  thirty  years  in  con- 
structing the  Hexapla  (representing  the  Text  and 
Versions  of  the  Old  Testament)  ;  yet  he  carried  his 
zeal  for  the  allegorical  exposition  of  Scripture  to  a 
point  as  yet  unapproached  in  the  Church. 

Doubtless  he  rendered  great  service  by  his  protest 
against  that  servile  literalism^  of  Scriptural  Interpre- 
tation which  had  been  the  bane  of  Judaism,  and 
which  (as  St.  Paul  declares,  when  he  says,  "  The  letter," 
i.  e.  the  letter  taken  alone  without  the  illumination  of 
the  Spirit,  "  killeth,  but  the  Spirit  giveth  life,"  2  Cor. 
iii.  6)  made  it  blind  to  the  true  meaning  of  its  own 
Law,  and  of  its  own  Prophecies,  as  the  same  Apostle 
affirms,  "  A  veil  is  on  their  hearts  in  the  reading  of  the 
Old  Testament"  (2  Cor.  iii.  14).  This  servility  of 
literalism  had  found  its  way  into  certain  sections  of 
the  primitive  Church,  and  did  much  damage  to  the 
faith  in  ancient  times,  especially  in  the  rival  school  to 
that  of  Alexandria,  the  Biblical  School  of  Antioch, 
which  produced  its  baneful  effects  in  a  low  and  frigid 
theology,  especially  concerning  the  Nature  and  Person 
of  Christ,   and   which    in    later  days  has    ministered 

*^  See  Origen,  Philocal.  c.  i,  c.  11,  c.  15,  2. 


ALLEGORICAL  LICENCE.  277 

help  to  the  deadly  heresy  of  Socinus."  A  beneficial 
practical  result  of  Origen's  teaching  on  Biblical 
Exegesis,  was  seen  in  the  dealings  of  his  Scholar 
Dionysius,  mentioned  below/  with  the  followers  of 
Papias  and  the  Chiliasts  (see  Euseb.  vii.  24,  25).  And 
other  good  fruits  were  produced  by  it,  when  it  was 
applied  by  wise  and  learned  men.  But  unhappily 
Origen  lent  his  support  also  to  the  wilder  speculations 
of  such  Jewish  writers  as  Philo  of  Alexandria,  who, 
when  they  met  with  anything  in  Scripture  which  was 
not  in  accordance  with  their  own  preconceived  notions 
of  what  was  morally  right,  explained  away  the  letter 
of  Scripture,  and  stripped  it  of  its  historical  reality, 
and  dissolved  it  into  metaphorical  idealism,  and 
transformed  it  into  an  allegory." 

It  was  for  this  reason  that  S.  Jerome,  who  was  not 
unfavourable  to  the  spiritual  method  of  interpretation, 
under  reasonable  restraints,  did  not  hesitate  to  say  of 
Origen,  "  He  makes  his  own  fancies  to  be  sacraments 
of  the  Church "  ("  ingenium  suum  facit  Ecclesiae 
sacramenta,"  S.  Jerome^  Prsef  in  Esaiam). 

This  disposition  to  allegorize  carried  Origen  far 
beyond  the  limits  prescribed  by  Clement  in  his  views 
of  the  subordination  of  Faith  to  Gnosis,  or  Know- 
ledge. 

Clement  based  his  theological  system   on  the  foun- 

'  See  Newman's  Arians,  chap.  i.  sect.  i. 

*  Chap.  xxi. 

'  See  Huetii  Origeniana,  ii.  cap.  Ii,  quaest.  xiii. ;  Rosenmiiller, 
Histor.  Interp.  Litt.  Script,  iii,  45 — 52  ;  Dr.  Waterland's  Preface  to 
Scripture  Vindicated,  vol.  vi.  p.  19.  It  must  be  confessed  (says 
Neander,  ii.  p.  234,  ed.  Rose)  that  the  Alexandrine  principle,  carried 
to  the  extreme,  might  lead  to  idealism,  destructive  of  all  that  is  objective 
and  historical  in  Christianity.  The  balance  between  the  literal  and 
allegorical  is  admirably  adjusted  by  S.  Augustine  de  Civ.  Dei,  xv.  27. 


278  OJV  FA ITH  A ND  FA C TS—  ON  THE  LOGOS. 

dation  of  Holy  Scripture  and  Catholic  Tradition  ;  but 
Origen  was  less  careful  to  build  on  that  solid  foun- 
dation ;  and  the  consequences  were  such  as  might 
have  been  anticipated.  With  much  that  was  true, 
beautiful,  and  attractive  in  his  teaching,  he  seems  to 
have  approximated  to  the  mysticism  which  bore  such 
evil  fruits  in  later  days  of  the  Church. 

Faith,  he  said,  is  grounded  on  the  facts  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  cleaves  to  the  letter,  and  is  to  knowledge 
what  the  body  is  to  the  spirit.  But  Knowledge  soars 
above  an  historical  Christianity,  and  is  spiritualized 
by  fellowship  with  the  Divine  Logos.  It  transfigures 
the  past  and  present  into  the  future.  It  is  a  life  of 
divine  vision,  of  divine  love,  of  union  with  God,  and 
by  it  the  whole  man  is  divinized  (see  Origen  in  Joann. 
T.  XX.  §  25,  27,  28  ;  in  Matt.  x.  §  9  ;  Neander,  ii.  285). 

The  work  of  this  spiritual  transfiguration  of  what 
is  human  into  what  is  divine,  was  wrought,  according 
to  him,  by  the  Logos,  the  personal  Word  of  God. 
What  the  NoO?  was  in  Platonism,  the  bridge  and 
isthmus  between  God  and  man,  that,  and  much  more, 
was  the  Logos  in  his  system.^  The  Logos,  a  real 
hypostasis,  came  forth  from  the  one  divine  Essence 
(the  avToOeo^)  from  Eternity.  He  was  generated 
in  a  "  timeless  present,  in  an  eternal  now."  He  is  to 
man  "  all  in  all."  He  is  the  concentrated  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Divine  Glory.  He  is  the  absolute,  objective, 
universal  Truth  and  Wisdom  of  God.  And  since  we 
cannot  conceive  of  God  as  otherwise  than  True  and 
Wise,  the  Logos  must  have  existed  from  Eternity. 
There  is  no  other  Way  to  the  Father  ;  no  other  Truth  ; 
no  other  Life,  but  in  Him  and  by  Him. 

Still  however,  in  his  view,  the  Logos  was   subordi- 

3  Cp.  Neander,  ii.  340 — 344. 


ORIGEN  ON  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  279 

nate  to  the  Father,  not  only  in  the  orthodox  sense 
of  subordination,  which,  recognizing  one  Fountain 
{'Trr]'yr]v)  and  principle  {dp')(r]v)  of  Divinity,  namely,  that 
in  the  Father  ;  and  recognizing  the  Son  as  coming 
forth  as  Son  by  an  eternal  generation  from  the 
Father,  acknowledged  Him  to  be,  in  that  sense, 
subordinate  to  the  Father,  and  yet  consubstantial, 
co-eternal,  and  co-equal  with  Him.  But  in  Origen's 
vaew  He  was  subordinate  in  dignity  also,  so  that, 
according  to  him,  though  it  was  the  duty  of  men  to 
pray  through  Him  to  the  Father,  yet  to  the  Father 
and  not  to  Him  absolutely  their  prayers  were  to  be 
made  (De  Orat.  c.  1 5  ;  but  cp.  c.  Celsum,  v.  1 1  ;  viii.  1 3) . 

Here  were  some  of  the  consequences  of  a  dereliction 
of  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture,  expounded  by 
Catholic  Tradition,  according  to  which  the  Church 
offered  prayers  and  sang  hymns  to  Christ  as  God 
(see  above,  p.  124). 

We  shall  see  the  results  of  Origen's  teaching  in 
this  respect  in  some  of  his  Scholars,  and  shall  not  be 
surprised  to  find  it  alleged,  that,  though  unconsciously, 
he  had  prepared  the  way  for  Arianism. 

We  need  not  enter  into  the  intricate  metaphysical 
and  ontological  questions  discussed  in  his  book  Trepl 
dp-ycov  (or  de  principiis),  which  exposed  Origen  to  the 
charge  of  heresy,  and  is  now  in  an  imperfect  condi- 
tion/ Some  of  our  own  learned  writers,  such  as 
Bishop  Bull  and  Dr.  Waterland,^  have  been  of 
opinion  that  his  teaching  on  the  doctrines  of  Christ's 
eternal  Godhead,  and  of  His  true  Manhood,  and  of  the 
Blessed  Trinity,  was  sound  ;  and  that  in  consideration 

•1  A  full  statement  of  them  may  be  seen  in  Huetii  Origeniana,  lib.  ii. 
'"  See   Dr.    Waterland's  Works,'  Defence  of  some    Queries,  vol.  i. 
Qu.  xii.  and  Qu.  xvii.,  who  refers  to  Bishop  Bull. 


280     ON  FUTURE  PUNISHMENT— ON  ORIGEN  AND 
TERTULLIAN. 

of  the  present  precarious  state  of  the  text  of  most  of 
his  works,  and  in  regard  to  the  fact  that  they  have 
been  tampered  with,  it  is  hardly  fair  to  pronounce  a 
sentence,  derived  from  certain  passages  in  them  ;  and 
that  almost  the  only  solid  groundwork  for  forming 
an  opinion  is  his  latest  work,  his  work  against 
Celsus,  which  is  in  a  more  perfect  state,  and  in 
which  he  seems  to  have  amended  his  teaching  on 
these  points  (see  above,  pp.  120,  121). 

His  subjective  method  of  Scriptural  interpretation 
betrayed  him  into  erroneous  teaching  on  future 
rewards  and  punishments  (which  latter  he  supposed 
to  be  remedial),  and  on  the  final  salvability  of  Satan 
and  his  angels. 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that  such  questions  as 
these  had  not  been  discussed  with  the  same  care  as 
was  afterwards  the  case,  when  the  opinions  of  Origen*^ 
upon  them  were  examined  and  condemned  by  a 
Council  of  the  Church — the  fifth  General  Council,  in 
the  time  of  Justinian,  A.D.  553/ 

On  the  whole,  the  history  of  Origen,  like  that  of 
Tertullian,  is  fraught  with  warning  and  instruction. 
Both  these  great  men  have  just  claims  to  be  admired 
and  imitated  for  what  was  noble  and  good  in  them  ; 
and  let  both  be  judged  charitably  for  their  failings. 
The  benefits  conferred  by  the  goodness  of  God  on 
the  Church  by  the  instrumentality  of  both  were 
permanent ;  and  even  their  infirmities,  though  occa- 
sions of  temporary  mischief,  have  been  made  con- 
ducive to  her  welfare.     Tertullian  acknowledg-ed  his 

o 

^  Cp.  Huetii  Origeniana,  pp.  227,  231,  321. 

"  Concilia,  Labbe,  v.  p.  783.  S.  Jerome  in  Jonam,  c.  iii.  S.  Aug. 
de  Civ.  Dei,  xxi.  17,  18,  20,  25;  'de  Hares,  c.  43.  Origen  himself 
seems  to  have  modified  his  opinion  on  this  question  ;  see  above,  p.  121. 


ORIGEN'S  TEMPER  AND  LIFE.  281 

own  impatience  (above,  p.  234).  Origen  confessed  that 
he  was  self-confident.  He  would  not  be  restrained 
and  guided  by  Catholic  tradition  and  authority,  but 
was  swayed  by  his  personal  bias  (see  in  Matth.  torn, 
xvii.  §  26).  It  was  also  his  misfortune  to  be  placed, 
when  very  young — eighteen  years  of  age — at  the  head 
of  the  Catechetical  School  of  Alexandria.  He  was 
justly  admired  for  his  courage,  his  holiness,  his  won- 
derful industry,  his  encyclopaedic  learning,  his  rigid 
self-denial  and  asceticism,  his  sufferings  for  the  truth, 
— things  which  sometimes,  when  idolized,  engender 
spiritual  pride  in  those  who  are  distinguished  by  them. 

This  ancient  great  Academic  Professor,  endued  with 
marvellous  gifts,  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual, 
and  surrounded  by  admiring  listeners,  imbibing  his 
opinions  as  oracular  utterances,  was  in  danger  of  mis- 
leading himself,  as  well  as  others.  It  would  have 
been  a  happy  thing  for  him,  if  he  had  been  under 
the  salutary  influences  of  practical  work,  in  inter- 
course with  other  not  inferior  minds,  and  in  the 
exercise  of  the  spiritual  and  ministerial  duties  of  a 
Parish  Priest,  or  in  the  administration  of  a  Diocese. 
It  was  also  Origen's  misfortune  to  be  placed  under  a 
Bishop  of  inferior  ability  and  learning,  of  unsympa- 
thizing  temper  and  narrow  views  ;  and  (not  without 
some  faults  on  his  own  side)  to  be  for  some  time 
in  antagonism  to  him. 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  difference  in  life  and 
influence  in  the  Church,  between  Origen  and  his  cele- 
brated pupil  (of  whom  something  has  been  already 
said,  and  more  will  be  said  hereafter)  S.  Dionysius, 
Bishop  of  Alexandria.  If  Origen  had  been  in  a  high 
position  of  practical  usefulness  and  experience  in  the 
Church,  he  would  probably  have  been  an  Augustine. 


282     fV/SE  REMARKS  OF  VINCENTIUS  LIRINENSIS   ON 
ORIGEN  AND  TERTULLIAN. 

Vincentius  Lirinensis  in  his  Commonitorium  (i.  17), 
written  A.D.  434,  has  given  utterance  to  a  truth,  which 
has  been  exemphfied  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  in 
ancient  and  modern  times,  "  The  Teacher's  error  is 
the  people^s  trial,^  and  so  much  the  more  severe  a  trial, 
in  proportion  as  the  Teacher,  who  misleadeth  them, 
is  in  higher  position  for  dignity  and  learning."  He 
then  refers  to  the  history  and  writings  of  Origen  and 
TertuUian.  He  pronounces  an  eloquent  eulogy  on 
the  extraordinary  genius,  profound  learning,  patient 
industry,  strict  and  severe  self-denial,  various  and 
valuable  labours,  and  successful  teaching  of  Origen  ; 
and  then  adds  in  words  of  warning,  "  Origen, — 
great  as  he  was, — abused  God's  grace  presump- 
tuously, and  indulged  licentiously  in  his  own  conceits  ; 
he  relied  too  much  on  himself,  and  too  lightly 
esteemed  the  pure  primitive  simplicity  of  Christ's 
religion,  and  imagined  himself  to  be  wiser  than  others, 
and  despised  the  traditions  of  the  Church,  and  the 
guidance  of  the  ancients  ;  and  interpreted  some  por- 
tions of  Holy  Scripture  in  a  novel  manner,  and  thus 
fell  away  into  error,  and  led  many  astray." 

Vincentius  then  speaks  of  TertuUian.  "  As  Origen 
holds  the  first- place  among  the  Greeks,  so  does  Ter- 
tuUian among  the  "Latins.  Who  more  learned  than 
he  }  All  Philosophy,  all  its  sects  and  their  opinions, 
all  varieties  of  History,  were  embraced  in  his  vast  and 
comprehensive  mind.  How  eminent  was  he  in  energy, 
gravity,  and  acumen  of  genius,  and  in  nervousness  of 
style  ;  his  almost  every  word  an  apophthegm  ;  his 
every  thought  a  victory  ('  cujus  quot  pene  verba,  tot 
sententiae  sunt  ;   quot  sensus,  tot  victorise ').      Here- 

8  A  sentence  uttered  by  Hooker,  V.  Ixii.  9,  without  naming  its  author. 
See  below  on  the  histoiy  of  S.  Cyprian,  p.  317. 


GREGORY,  BISHOP  OF  NEO-C.^SAREA.         .   283 

siarchs  were  thrown  prostrate  by  the  thunderbolts  of 
his  eloquence ;  but  he  also  fell  into  heresy,  and  became 
a  severe  trial  to  the  "Church." 

The  steadfastness  of  the  Church  in  the  truth  was 
put  to  the  test  by  the  errors  of  Origen  and  TertuUian. 
But  let  God  be  thanked  for  whatever  was  true,  noble, 
wise,  pious,  and  devout  in  the  one  and  the  other,  and 
for  those  lessons  of  humility,  self-restraint,  forbear- 
ance, charity,  and  constancy,  which  He  teaches  by  them 
to  all  those. who  have  wisdom  and  humility  to  learn. 

Gregory  (called  Thaumaturgus  from  the  miracles 
wrought  by  him).  Bishop  of  Neo-Csesarea  in  Pontus, 
was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  among  the  scholars 
of  Origen.  He  was  appointed  to  the  Episcopal 
See  of  his  native  city,  which  then  contained  only  seven- 
teen Christians ;  the  rest  were  heathens.  After  his 
consecration  to  the  Bishopric,  he  retired  for  a  time  in 
order  to  give  himself  to  religious  meditation  and 
prayer,  especially  that  he  might  be  enabled  .to  refute 
the  errors  and  heresies  of  the  time,  and  to  hold  firmly 
and  teach  clearly  the  true  faith.  When  he  was  thus 
engaged,  he  had  a  vision  of  a  venerable  man,  who  said 
that  he  had  been  sent  by  God  in  answer  to  his  prayers, 
to  declare  to  him  the  true  faith.  A  beautiful  woman, 
of  superhuman  dignity,  accompanied  him.  The  vene- 
rable man,  as  represented  in  the  vision,  was  St.  John 
the  Evangelist  ;  the  woman  was  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary.  The  former  then  uttered  certain  words,  in 
which  he  delivered  a  profession  of  faith,  which 
Gregory  forthwith  set  down  in  writing,  as  follows  : — ^ 

"  There  is  One  God,  the  Father  of  the  Living  Word, 

9  S.  Gregory  Nyssen  de  Vita  S.  Gregorii  Thaumaturg.  p.  97S,  ed. 
Paris.  1 61 5, 


281..  HIS  CREED. 

Who  is  His  subsisting  Wisdom,  Power,  and  Eternai 
Impress  {^apaKr-qp),  He  (the  Father)  is  Perfect  Gene- 
rator of  Perfect  Son  ;  Father  of  Only-begotten  Son. 

"  There  is  One  Lord  ;  One  only  of  One  only  ;  God  of 
God  ;  Impress  and  Image  {eUcav)  of  the  Godhead  ; 
Energizing  Word  ;  Wisdom,  comprehensive  of  the 
system  of  the  Universe  ;  and  Power,  the  Maker  of  the 
whole  Creation  ;  Very  Son  of  Very  Father  ;  Invisible 
of  Invisible  ;  Incorruptible  of  Incorruptible  ;  Immortal 
of  Immortal  ;  Eternal  of  Eternal. 

"  There  is  One  Holy  Spirit,  having  His  existence  from 
God,  and  manifested  through  the  Son,  namely,  to 
men  ;  the  Image  of  the  Son,  Perfect  of  Perfect ;  Life, 
the  cause  of  those  who  live  ;  the  holy  Fountain  ; 
Holiness,  the  Author  of  Sanctification  ;  by  Whom 
God  the  Father  is  manifested.  Who  is  above  all,  and 
in  all  ;  and  God  the  Son,  Who  is  through  all; 

"  There  is  a  Trinity  perfect  in  Glory  and  Eternity 
and  Kingdom,  Indivisible  and  Unchangeable." 

S.  Gregory,  Bishop  of  Nyssa,  who  inserts  this  Creed 
in  his  life  of  S.  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  adds  this 
comment  upon  it  (p.  979),  "  Therefore  there  is  nothing 
that  has  been  created  or  is  inferior  in  the  Trinity  ;  nor 
is  there  anything  that  has  been  introduced  into  it, 
as  if  it  did  not  exist  there  before,  and  was  afterwards 
admitted  into  it  ;  for  never  was  the  Father  without, 
the  Son,  nor  the  Son  without  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  the 
Trinity  is  ever  the  same,  invariable  and  unalterable/' 

Gregory  of  Nyssa  says  that  the  original  autograph 
of  this  Creed,  written  by  S.  Gregory  Thaumaturgus, 
was  preserved  in  the  Church  of  Caesarea.  This  Creed 
may  be  compared  with  the  Creeds  set  down  by  S. 
Irenaeus  (quoted  above,  p.  217),  and  by  Tertullian 
(above,  p.  241), 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Defenders    of  the   Faith — 5.   Hippolytiis,  Bishop    of 
Forties  Romanus^  or  Harbour  of  Rome. 

Between  the  appearance  of  the  Works  of  S.  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  and  those  of  S.  Hippolytus,  was  an 
interval  of  about  forty  years. 

S.  Hippolytus  1  was  a  Scholar  of  S.  Irenaeus.  His 
name,  like  that  of  his  master,  is  Greek.  Like  him,  he 
composed  his  works  in  Greek  ;  like  him,  he  came  from 
the  East  to  the  West ;  like  him,  he  became  a  Bishop  of 
the  Church,  and  one  of  the  most  eminent  Teachers 
in  it.  He  was  Bishop  of  Portus  Romanus,  the  harbour 
of  Rome,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  about  fifteen 
miles  from  the  City;  the  harbour  at  which  S.  Ignatius 
had  landed  in  his  voyage  from  his  Episcopal  See  at 
Antioch  to  his  glorious  Martyrdom  at  Rome. 

Portus  was  frequented  by  foreigners,  merchants, 
shipmen  and  soldiers,  philosophers,  physicians  and 
astrologers,  Greeks,  Asiatics,  Africans,  as  well  as 
Italians,  flocking  to  Rome.  It  was  inhabited  by  a 
mixed  population  of  various  nations,  partly  heathen, 
partly  Christian,   partly  Jewish,  and  was  therefore  a 

»  The  authorities  for  this  and  other  statements  in  the  present 
chapter  may  be  seen  in  my  work  on  "  S.  Hippolytus  and  the  Church 
of  Rome  io  the  earlier  part  of  the  Third  Century,"  especially  chap.  i. 
chap,  iv.,  chap,  xv.,  2nd  Edition,  1880,  and  need  not  be  repeated  here. 


286     S.  HIPPOL  YTUS—HIS  ST  A  TUE—HIS  ' '  REFU  TA  TION 
OF  ALL  heresies:' 

very   suitable   place    to  be  the   Episcopal   See   of  a 

person    eminent  for  learning,  eloquence,  orthodoxy, 

piety,  and  zeal,  like  Hippolytus. 

In  the  year  1551  a  marble  Statue  of  a  venerable 
figure  seated  in  a  chair  was  discovered  at  Rome,  in 
excavations  near  the  site  of  the  ancient  Church  of  S. 
Hippolytus  in  the  eastern  suburb  of  the  city,  on  the 
Via  Tiburtina,or  road  to  Tivoli,not  far  from  the  Church 
of  S.  Lorenzo.  On  the  back  of  the  Chair  of  this  Statue 
was  inscribed  in  Greek  a  list  of  Works  written  by  the 
person  represented  by  the  Statue  occupying  the  Chair  ; 
and  on  the  sides  was  engraven  a  Paschal  Calendar  ; 
and  from  these  and  other  indications  it  was  rightly 
concluded  that  it  was  a  Statue  of  S.  Hippolytus. 

Nearly  300  years  afterwards,  in  the  year  1842, 
another  discovery  was  made,  having  reference  to 
Hippolytus.  In  one  of  the  Monasteries  of  Mount 
Athos,  a  Greek  Manuscript  was  found,  originally  con- 
sisting of  Ten  Books, — but  of  which  a  small  portion 
has  been  lost, — entitled  "  Philosophumena,  or  a  Refu- 
tation of  all  Heresies."  It  has  now  been  proved,  and 
is  almost  universally  acknowledged,  that  this  treatise 
was  written  by  S.  Hippolytus,  Bishop  ofPortus 
Romanus,  in  the  third  century. 

In  one  of  the  Books — the  Ninth — of  this  work,  the 
Author  describes  his  own  conflict  with  the  Noetian 
heretics,  who  were  abetted  by  two  Bishops  of  Rome 
in  succession,  Zephyrinus  and  Callistus."  It  records 
also  his  own  strenuous  efforts  in  the  defence  of  the 
true  Faith. 

The  work  was  written  some  time  after  the  death  of 
Callistus,  which  took  place  A.D.  223. 

In  traversing  the  interval  of  less  than  half  a  century 

2  See  my  work  on  S.  Hippolytus,  chap.  vi. 


THEOLOGICAL  CONTROVERSIES  IN  HIS  AGE  AT    287 
ROME. 

from   S.  Clement  of  Alexandria  to  S.  Hippolytus, — 

who  flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  third  century, — 

we  are  struck  by  the  change  that  has  taken  place  in 

that  time. 

The  various  forms  of  Gnostic  heresy  had  lost  much 
of  their  significance  ;  they  had  become  matters  of 
history,  and  are  treated  as  such  in  the  lately-discovered 
work  of  S*.  Hippolytus  ("The  Refutation  of  all 
Heresies "),  who  regards  them  as  the  offspring  of 
Gentile  Philosophy  (p.  3),  and  examines  them  in  suc- 
cession with  reference  to  that  view. 

This  change  was  due  in  God's  providence  to  the 
influence  of  the  writings  of  S.  Clement  himself,  of 
S.  Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  and  Origen,  against  those 
Gnostic  phases  of  false  doctrine. 

But  as  S.  Hippolytus  tells  us,  a  more  dangerous 
crisis  and  severer  struggle  had  succeeded  (ibid.  p.  65). 

Attention  was  now  concentrated  on  certain  great 
questions  ;  namely,  the  Personality  and  Divine  Nature 
of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and,  by  consequence,  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  Blessed  Trinity.  This  conflict  was 
more  formidable,  because  erroneous  doctrines  on  these 
questions  were  abetted  in  that  Church  to  which  the 
Teacher  of  S.  Hippolytus,  S.  Irenaeus  (p.  38),  had 
appealed  as  holding  the  true  tradition  of  Christian 
Faith — the  Church  of  Rome  (p.  282),  and  were  sup- 
ported by  two  Bishops  of  Rome  in  succession, 
Zephyrinus  (a.d.  202 — 218)  and  Callistus  (A.D.  218 — 
223  ;  see  "  S.  Hippolytus  "  &c.,  chapters  vi.  and  vii.). 

That  this  should  have  been  so,  will  not  seem 
surprising,  when  we  consider  the  circumstances  of  the 
case. 

At  Rome,  Christianity  had  been  preached,  as  reveal- 
ing divine  Truth  and  pure  worship,  in  opposition  to 


288  DOGMATIC  DILEMMA  AT  ROME. 

the  errors  and  idolatries  of  Heathenism.  Those 
errors  and  idolatries  were  fruits  of  Polytheism.  What 
wonder  that  Bishops  of  Rome  should  be  zealous 
champions  of  the  Divine  Unity  }  It  was  their  duty 
to  be,  in  a  certain  sense,  Monotheists;  that  is,  to  main- 
tain the  doctrine  of  the  one  True  God. 

To  many  at  Rome  the  doctrine  of  the  distinct 
Personality  of  the  Son,  of  God,  as  Very  God,  in  addition 
to  that  of  the  Father  as  Very  God,  seemed  to  be 
Ditheism;  that  is,  to  teach  the  doctrine  of  two  Gods, 
To  them  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  third 
distinct  Person,  and  also  Very  God,  was  Tritheisrn, 
or  a  doctrine  of  three  Gods.  And  here  we  may 
observe,  that  if  the  doctrine  of  the  Blessed  Trinity 
were  not  true,  it  never  could  have  prevailed  under  the 
difficulties  by  which  it  was  beset. 

In  defence  of  the  divine  Unity,  or  Monarchia,  as  it 
was  called,  two  opposite  parties  laboured  zealously 
at  Rome,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century,  and 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  third.  Both  of  these  taught 
dangerous  errors,  in  order  to  support  what  was,  in  a 
certain  sense,  fundamentally  true. 

The  first  was  that  of  Theodotus  and  Artemon,  who 
asserted  that  the  Son  of  God  was  a  mere  Man,  con- 
ceived indeed  miraculously,  and  so  they  differed  from 
the  Ebionites  ;  but  only  a  Man,  eminently  endued 
with  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  was  their  line  of  defence 
against  Polytheism,  and  of  maintaining  the  doctrine 
of  One  God. 

Artemon,  who  was  distinguished  for  his  bias  to  the 
Aristotelian  philosophy  (Euseb.  v.  28),  and  to  the 
study  of  logic,  geometry,  and  mathematics,  and  had 
little  reverence  for  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  he 
wrested  and  warped  to  suit  his  own  opinions,  repre- 


TI^FO  FORMS  OF  UNITARIANJSM—CALLISTUS,   289 
BISHOP  OF  ROME. 

sented  a  class  of  minds,  who,  in  their  zeal  for  the  claims 

of  the  human  intellect,  pay   little  regard  to  Divine 

Revelation,  and  elevate  Reason  above  Faith. 

The  other  party  was  that  of  Praxeas,  and,  after  him, 

of  Noetus.    They  strenuously  affirmed  that  they  would 

never  acknowledge  two  Gods ;  and   they  referred  to 

such  texts  as  our  Lord's  words  in  John  xiv.  9,  "  He  that 

hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father  ;"  and  said  that  the 

Father  was  in  the  Son,  and  was  even  crucified  in  the 

Son,   or  at   least   suffered  with  the  Son;    and  were 

thence  called  Patripassians. 

Thus  there  was  at  Rome  one  form  of  Unitarianism 

which  saw  in  Christ  little  more  than  Man,  and  another 

form  of  Unitarianism  which  beheld  in  Him  nothing 

but  God. 

Leading  champions  of  both  these  parties,  such  as 

Theodotus  and  Artemon  on  the  one  side,  and  on  the 

other  Praxeas  and  Cleomenes,  came  to  Rome.     And 

Sabelllus  was  there  in  the  time  of  Callistus,  Bishop 

of  Rome. 

Callistus     endeavoured    to    make    a    com.promise 

between  the   two  opposite   forms   of  Monarchianism 

prevalent  there.     He  said  ^  that  the  "  Man  Jesus  only 

was  the  Son  "  (thus   approximating  to  the  theory  of 

Theodotus  and  Artemon),  "  and  that  the  Spirit  in  the 

Son  was    the  Father,  and   that  the  Father   suffered 

with  the  Son,"  thus  inclining  to  that  of  Praxeas   and 

Noetus.     Callistus  called  Hippolytus  a  Ditheist,  and 

he  said,  "  I  will  never  acknowledge  two  Gods." 

The  least  semblance  of  Polytheism  was  avoided  by 

Bishops  of  Rome  ;  and  the  claims  of  Monarchianism 

were  pow^erful ;  if  they  would  not  side  with  Theodotus 

and  Artemon,  as  in  reverence  for  Christ  they  could  not, 

3  See  further  in  my  work  on  Hippolytus,  p.  89. 

U 


290    LACK  OF  THEOLOGICAL  SCIENCE  AT  ROME- 
POPES  ZEPHYKINUS  AND  CALLISTUS. 

they  would    be   strongly  attracted    to    Praxeas   and 

Noetus,  who  pleaded  that  their  own  view  was  for  the 

greater  glory  of  Christ.'' 

Rome  was  not  like  Alexandria.  Alexandria  had 
eminent  teachers,  but  Rome  had  no  theological 
School.  Since  the  days  of  S.  Clement  of  Rome,^  the 
Church  of  Rome  could  not  point  to  any  Bishop  or 
Priest  distinguished  by  scientific  culture  in  divine 
truth,  except  perhaps  Caius,  who  is  only  known  for 
his  work  against  Montanism.  Novatian  was  after 
Callistus,  and  would  not  have  been  acceptable  to  him. 
TertuUian  was  an  African.  Minucius  Felix  had  indeed 
resided  at  Rome,  but  he  was  not  an  ecclesiastic,  and 
was  only  an  apologist  against  Heathenism. 

We  need  not  therefore  be  surprised  to  see  a  good  deal 
of  vacillation  among  Roman  Bishops  at  that  time.  A 
Roman  Bishop  had  acknowledged  the  prophecies  of 
Montanus,  and  Praxeas  the  Patripassian  met  with 
a  favourable  reception  at  Rome  (TertuUian  adv. 
Praxeam,  c.  i).  It  is  not  strange  that  Pope  Zephy- 
rinus,  who  was  "  illiterate,"  and  Pope  Callistus,  who 
had  been  a  servant,  should  have  been  puzzled  by 
heretics,  and  lapsed  into  heresy. 

Origen  had  indeed  come  from  Alexandria  to  Rome 
in  the  days  of  Zephyrinus,  and  listened  there  to  a  Ser- 
mon of  S.  Hippolytus.     But  his  stay  there  was  short ; 


*  See  Hippol.  c.  Noet.  c.  i,  and  my  Hippolytus,  p.  13. 

*  Bishop  Pearson,  Dissert,  i.  c.  13,  contrasts  the  lack  of  theological 
learning  in  the  Roman  Church  in  that  age  with  the  superior  erudition 
and  literary  and  scientific  culture  of  the  Eastern.  Neander,  Ch.  Hist.  ii. 
333,  speaks  of  "  ihe  crude  and  undigested  form  of  doctrine  in  the  Roman 
Church;"  cp.  337,  where  he  says  that  it  *'was  not  very  precisely 
defined  ;"  and  in  other  places  he  speaks  of  the  Church  of  Rome  as  barren 
in  theological  science  (p.  483).  Hippolytus  asserts  that  '*  Pope  Zephy- 
rinus was  illiterate"  (Hippol.  p.  284,  ed.  Miller). 


ORIGEN'S  THEOLOGY  INADEQUATE  FOR  THE   291 
CRISIS. 

and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  Origen's  doctrine  of  the 

Logos,  eternally  existing  as  a  divine  Person,  distinct 

from  the  Father,  and  exalted  far  above   all  creatures, 

yet  subordinate  in  degree,  so  as  not  to  be  an  object  of 

prayer,®  would  have   been  of  much  use  in  extricating 

Popes  Zephyrinus  and  Callistus  from  their  troubles. 

Origen  had  no  difficulty  in  confuting  the  error  of 
Beryllus  of  Bosra,  who  took  a  middle  and  conciliatory 
course  between  the  two  opposite  extremes  of  Monar- 
chianism,  and  could  not  satisfy  either  of  them,  nor  give 
contentment  to  the  more  orthodox  believer.  Beryllus 
(who  was  a  precursor  of  ApoUinarianism)  taught  that 
in  the  Person  of  Christ,  after  His  nativity  as  Man, 
there  was  a  certain  efflux  of  the  divine  essence,  so  that 
He  had  no  reasonable  human  soul  (Euseb.  vi.  20,  33)  ; 
and  instead  of  being  God  and  Man,  was  neither  God 
nor  Man. 

But  Origen,  with  his  theory  of  subordination,  though 
allied  with  a  doctrine  of  the  Logos  higher  than  any- 
thing that  Theodotus  or  Noetus  or  Beryllus  between 
them  had  taught,  could  not  have  solved  the  pro- 
blem, and  fully  vindicated  the  true  faith  from  the 
manifold  errors  which  beset  it.  He  certainly  would 
not  at  that  time  have  satisfied  those  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  pray  to  Christ,  and  to  sing  hymns '  to 
Him  as  God,  and  who  held  the  truth,  afterwards  so 
well  expressed  by  S.  Augustine,  **  Orat  pro  nobis 
Christus,  ut  Sacerdos  noster  ;  orat  in  nobis  Christus, 
ut  Caput  nostrum ;  oratur  a  nobis  Christus,  ut  Deus 
noster.'' 

fi  Origen  de  Orat.  c  15  ;  and  see  Neander,  ii.  347,  348.  Origen  after- 
wards modified  that  opinion  in  his  latest  work,  that  against  Celsus ;  see 
above,  pp.  120,  279. 

7  See  the  words  of  S.  Hippolytus  in  Euseb.  v.  28.  Cp.  with  Theo- 
doret,  Hasret.  Fab.  ii.  5,  and  my  Hippolytus,  p.  216. 

U    2 


292   PROVIDENTIAL  POSITION  OF  S.  HIPPOLYTUS. 

The  person  raised  up  by  God's  Providence  at  this 
crisis  to  defend  the  faith  was  S.  HiPPOLYTUS. 

1.  S.  Hippolytus  held  and  taught  that  "the  faith  had 
been  once  for  all  dehvered  to  the  saints"  (Jude  3),  and 
that  this  faith  is  contained  in  Holy  Scripture.  "  There 
is  one  God,"  he  says  (adv.  Noet.  §  9),^  "  whom  we 
know  from  no  other  source  than  the  Holy  Scriptures  ; 
and  we,  who  desire  to  exercise  true  piety,  will  not 
endeavour  to  do  this  except  from  the  oracles  of  God. 
Let  us  therefore  examine  what  the  divine  Scriptures 
declare,  and  let  us  perfectly  know  what  they  teach. 
Let  us  believe  as  the  Father  wills  to  be  believed,  and 
let  us  glorify  as  the  Son  wills  to  be  glorified,  and  let 
us  receive  as  the  Holy  Spirit  wills  to  give ;  not 
according  to  our  own  private  prepossessions,  nor 
according  to  our  own  minds,  nor  wresting  the  things 
which  are  given  us  by  God,  but,  accordingly  as  He 
Himself  willed  to  manifest  them  to  us  by  the  Holy 
Scriptures." 

2.  While  S.  Hippolytus  thus  affirmed  that  all 
supernatural  truth,  necessary  for  salvation,  is  con- 
tained in  Holy  Scripture,  he  knew  also  that  it  is 
requisite  to  guard  carefully  against  those  who,  instead 
of  expounding  Scripture  as  a  whole,  and  "  according 
to  the  proportion  of  faith"  (Rom.  xii.  6),  and  "com- 
paring spiritual  things  with  spiritual"  (i  Cor.  ii.  13), 
pursue  a  different  method  ;  and  while  they  profess  a 
zeal  for  Scripture,  quote  single  texts  of  Scripture, 
without  due  regard  to  other  texts  which  ought  to  be 
construed  with  them.  This  was  what  the  Noetians  or 
Patripassians  did  when  in  support  of  their  heresy  they 

^  S.  Hippolyti  Opera,  ed.  J.  A.  Fabricius,  Hamburg,  1716,  torn.  ii. 
pp.  5 — 20,  The  homily  against  Noetus  is  contained  in  Dr.  Routh's 
Scriptorum  Ecclesiasticorum  Opuscula,  pp.  49—80,  ed.  3tia,  Oxon.  1858. 


S.  HIPPOLYTUS  ON  SCRIPTURE;  ITS  SUPREMACY,  293 
SUFFICIENCY,  AND  RIGHT  INTERPRETATION— 

referred  to  our  Lord's  words,  John  xiv.  9,   10,  "  He 

that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen   the  Father.    BeHevest 

thou   not  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in 

Me?"  and  who  thence  argued,  that  the  Father  suffered 

in  the  Son,  or  with  the  Son.     He  protested   against 

this    practice   of  garbling  and    mutilating   Scripture, 

quoting  texts  ^ovoKcoXa,   or  piecemeal ;  and  he  said, 

"  Whenever   heretics   wish    to    practise   deceit,   they 

amputate  the   Scripture;  but,"  he   added,  "let  them 

quote  Scripture  as  a  zvJioW  (c.  Noet.  3  and  4). 

3.  Proceeding  on  these  principles,  he  declared — 
against  the  two  opposite  forms  of  Monarchianism  at 
Rome — that  the  duty  of  the  Christian  Teacher  is  to 
examine  and  to  co-ordinate  the  various  texts  of 
Scripture  bearing  on  the  subject  in  dispute,  and  to 
exhibit  them  in  one  harmonious  whole.  In  the  per- 
formance of  this  work  he  showed  that  the  doctrine  of 
the  Unity  of  the  divine  Essence,  in  a  Plurality  of  Three 
Divine  Persons,  is  declared  by  the  words  of  our  Lord, 
when  He  had  risen  from  the  dead,  and  gave  a  com- 
mission to  His  disciples  to  go  forth  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  all  the  World  :  "  Go  ye  and  teach  all 
Nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  NAME  (not  Names, 
but  into  the  One  Name)  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  "  (Matt  xxviii.  19).  This  one- 
ness of  THE  Name  proclaimed  the  Unity  of  the  Divine 
Essence  ;  and  since  the  Father  is  God,  it  followed  that 
the  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  Who  are  joined  with  Him  in 
the  words  of  this  Commission,  cannot  be  less  than  God. 

The  true  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity  was  there- 
fore grounded  on  that  divine  declaration,  and  had 
been  proclaimed  in  every  Baptism  that  had  ever  been 
administered  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Further,  the  distinct  Personality  of  the  Father,  the 


294  UNITY  OF  DIVINE  SUBSTANCE  IN  THE   TRINITY 
OF  PERSONS. 

Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  had  been  declared  at  our 
Lord's  own  Baptism  ;  when  the  Father  spoke  from 
heaven,  and  said,  "  This  is  My  beloved  Son  ; "  and 
when  the  Son  was  baptized,  and  when  the  Holy  Ghost 
came  down  upon  Him.  And  the  distinct  Personality 
of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  was  further  mani- 
fested by  St.  Paul's  words,  "Through  Him  (the  Son) 
we  have  access,  by  one  Spirit,  to  the  Father  "  (Eph.  ii. 
1 8).  Also  the  distinct  Personality  and  the  divine 
Nature  of  each  of  the  Three  Persons  were  dis- 
played in  the  words  of  Apostolical  Benediction 
(revealing  the  full  meaning  of  the  Priestly  Benediction 
under  the  Law,  with  its  triple  repetition  of  "  The 
Lord"  constituting  "My  Name!'  Num.  vi.  23 — 27), 
"The  Grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Love 
of  God,  and  the  Fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost  be 
with  you  all"  (2  Cor.  xiii.  14). 

The  Trisagion  of  the  Apocalypse  was  also  an  echo 
of  the  "Thrice  Holy 'V  in  Isaiah  (Isa.  vi.  3.  Rev. 
iv.  8). 

The  Text  (John  x.  30)  "  I  and  the  Father  are 
one  "  (not  el?,  but  ev  eafiev) ,  umim  siimtis,  one  substance^ 
not  one  Person^  had  been  '^  already  well  explained  and 
applied  by  Tertullian  (c.  Prax.  c.  22)  to  prove  the 
Plurality  of  Persons  and  Unity  of  Substance  in  the 
Trinity. 

4.  But  together  with  these  Scriptures  S.  Hippolytus 
took  care  to  combine  the  manifold  testimony  of  Holy 
Scripture,  showing  that  the.  Eternal  Son  of  God,  Very 
God  of  Very  God,  became  Very  Man  at  His  Incarna- 
tion, in  the  Womb  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  so 

^  S.  Augustine  said  well  on  this  text,  "  Ego  et  Pater  iiman  sumus,'' 
that  our  Lord  destroyed  two  heresies  by  it  at  one  blow.  Per  "  U7ium  " 
stravit  Arium,  per  ^^  sutnus,^'  Sabellium. 


CIIRJSrS  TWO  NATURES  IN  ONE  PERSON—WORK  295 
OF  HIPPOLYTUS  ON  ALL  HERESIES. 

that  in  His  One  Person,  the  two  Natures,  the  Nature 

of  God  and  the  Nature  of  Man,  were  united,  but  not 

confused,  and  will   remain    united,  and  never   to   be 

separated,  for  eternity. 

5.  S.  Hippolytus  had  profited  by  the  teaching  ot 
S.  Irenaeus,  whose  scholar  he  was,  and  doubtless  he 
had  diligently  studied  the  five  books  of  S.  Irenaeus, 
entitled  "  A  Refutation  of  all  Heresies."  And  it  is 
not  improbable  that  he  had  seen  the  work  which 
Tertullian  wrote  against  Praxeas  early  in  the  third 
century.  In  that  book  Tertullian  says  (c.  3)  "that 
many  simple-minded  persons  are  startled  at  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  because  they  think  that  it  mars 
the  Unity,  and  betrays  them  into  Pagan  Polytheism. 
They  do  not  understand  that  in  a  Trinity  of  Divine 
Persons  there  is  an  Unity  of  substance." 
.  We  do  not  hear  of  Praxeas  in  the  conflict  which 
Hippolytus  had  with  the  Patripassians  at  Rome. 
Praxeas,  who  was  an  African  (Augustin.  Haer.  c.  41. 
Philast.  Haer.  c.  54),  left  Rome  for  Carthage,  where  he 
was  encountered  by  Tertullian  ;  and  perhaps  he  was 
not  only  confuted,  but  converted,  by  him. 

S.  Hippolytus  had  also  carefully  examined  the 
heresies  that  had  then  been  broached,  as  is  shown  by 
his  lately-discovered  work  called  "  A  Refutation  of  all 
Heresies."  He  was,  therefore,  well  qualified  to  be  a 
pilot  of  the  Church,  amid  the  storms  of  controversy, 
and  over  the  shoals  and  quicksands  of  Error,  and  to 
steer  her  safely  amid  the  reefs  and  rocks,  and  to 
guide  her  to  the  calm  haven  and  secure  anchorage  of 
Truth. 

Those  various  Heresies  had  been  overruled  by  the 
Divine  Head  of  the  Church  for  the  triumphant  vindi- 
cation, clearer  manifestation,  and  firmer  establishment 


296  HERESIES  OVERRULED  FOR  GOOD. 

of  the  true  faith.  "  If  the  doctrine  of  the  Church," 
says  Origen  (in  Num.  homil.  9),  "had  not  been 
assailed  by  the  opposition  of  heretics,  our  faith  would 
not  be  so  clearly  manifest  and  well  defined  as  it  is. 
God  allows  the  Catholic  doctrine  to  be  impugned,  in 
order  that  our  Faith  may  not  be  a  languid  Faith,  but 
be  stimulated  by  exercise."  And  S.  Augustine 
observes  (in  Ps.  54),  "  Many  things  in  Scripture  were 
not  fully  understood.  Heretics  arose  and  agitated 
the  Church  from  which  they  were  cut  off.  And  those 
things  were  then  made  clear,  and  the  will  of  God  was 
understood."  Augustine  goes  on  to  remark  that  as 
Arianism  was  overruled  for  the  clearer  manifestation 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  so  was  Novatianism, 
for  elucidating  the  truth  concerning  the  efficacy  of 
Repentance  ;  and  Donatism,  for  illustrating  the  doc- 
trine of  Baptism.  And  he  says  (in  his  Treatise  de 
Civ.  Dei,  xvi.  2),  "  Many  truths  which  appertain  to  the 
Catholic  faith  are  weighed  more  diligently  by  its 
advocates,  and  are  apprehended  more  clearly,  and  are 
preached  more  earnestly,  in  order  that  those  truths 
may  be  defended  against  enemies  who  restlessly 
.  impugn  them.  And  thus  the  questions  raised  by 
our  adversaries  become  occasions  for  learning  the 
truth." 

In  the  same  spirit  Richard  Hooker  observes  (V.  xlii.) 
that  "  contentions  with  heretics  occasioned  the 
learned  and  sound  in  faith  to  explain  such  things  as 
Heresy  went  to  deprave."  Samson,  having  slain  the 
Lion,  fed  himself  and  others  with  the  honey  from  the 
carcase  ;  so  the  champions  of  the  Church,  having 
prostrated  Heresy,  nourished  themselves  and  others 
with  the  strong  meat  derived  from  its  overthrow  (see 
Judges  xiv.  8,  9). 


EVIDENCE  OF  THIS  IN  THE  TEACHING  OF      297 
HIPFOL  YTUS  ON  THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST. 

In  illustration  of  these  statements,  let  us  refer  to 
the  writings  of  S.  Hippolytus. 

In  his  Homily  against  the  Noetian  heresy,  then 
prevalent  at  Rome,  he  says  (c.  12),  "Christ  is  the 
Word  by  Whom  all  things  were  made,  as  St.  John 
testifies  at  the  beginning  of  his  Gospel.  "  In  Him  we 
behold  the  Word  Incarnate  ;  we  know  the  Father  by 
Him  ;  we  believe  the  Son  ;  we  worship  the  Holy 
Ghost."  He  then  encounters  the  argument  of  the 
Noetians,  charging  the  orthodox  with  a  belief  in  two 
Gods,  because  they  maintained  that  the  Father  is 
God,  and  the  Son  is  God.  "  No,"  he  replies,  "  I  will 
not  speak  of  two  Gods,  but  one  God  and  two  Persons 
(c.  14).  For  the  Father  is  one,  but  there  are  two 
Persons,  because  there  is  also  the  Son  ;  and  the  third 
Person  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  cannot  otherwise 
acknowledge  one  God,  except  we  believe  truly  in  the 
Father,  and  in  the  Son,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
Word  of  God,  namely  Christ,  having  risen  from  the 
dead,  gave  therefore  this  charge  to  His  disciples 
(Matt,  xxviii.  19),  'Go  ye  and  teach  all  Nations, 
baptizing  them  into  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  and  thus  He  showed 
that  whoever  omits  one  of  these  does  not  fully  glorify 
God.  For  through  this  Trinity  the  Father  is  glorified. 
The  Father  willed,  the  Son  wrought,  the  Holy  Ghost 
manifested.     All  the  Scriptures  proclaim  this." 

In  the  eloquent  peroration  of  that  Homily  he 
describes  the  human  acts  and  sufferings,  as  well  as 
the  divine  miracles  of  Christ,  as  follows  (c.  17) : — 

"Brethren,  blessed  in  the  Lord,  let  us  believe 
according  to  the  tradition  of  the  Apostles,  that  God 
the  Word  came  down  from  heaven  into  the  Holy 
Virgin  Mary,  in  order  that  being  Incarnate  from  her, 


298  S.  HIPPOLYTUS  ON  THE. DIVINE  AND  HUMAN 
NATURE  OF  CHRIST 

and    having   taken    a   human,    reasonable   soul,    and 

becoming  in   all  things  Very  Man,  but  without   sin, 

He  might  save  man  who  had  fallen,  and  might  give 

incorruption  to  men  who  believe  in  His  Name. 

"The true  doctrine  has  been  manifested  to  us  in  all 
things,  that  there  is  One  Father,  with  Whom  the 
Word  is  present,  by  Whom  He  made  all  things  ;  and 
Whom,  in  these  latter  days,  the  Father  sent  into  the 
World  for  the  salvation  of  mankind.  His  Coming 
into  the  World  was  pre-announced  by  the  Law  and 
the  Prophets  ;  and  according  to  that  pre-announce- 
ment  He  manifested  Himself,  being  born  the  new 
Man  from  the  Virgin  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  having 
His  heavenly  Nature,  as  the  Word,  from  the  Father, 
and  His  earthly  nature  by  taking  our  flesh  from  the 
old  Adam  by  the  Virgin.  He  came  forth  into  the 
world,  being  God  in  a  human  body,  perfect  Man,  not 
in  appearance  merely,  nor  by  change  of  nature,  but 
real  and  very  Man."  He  then  describes  Christ  as 
represented  in  the  Gospel  history. 

"  Though  He  is  manifested  in  the  world  as  God, 
yet  He  does  not  decline  what  is  human.  He  is  hungry 
and  weary,  and  being  weary  He  thirsts  ;  and  being  in 
an  agony  He  shrinks  from  death  ;  and  when  He  prays. 
He  is  sorrowful ;  aad  He  Who  never  slumbers,  as  God, 
is  asleep  as  man  on  a  pillow  ;  and  He  deprecates  the 
bitter  cup,  though  He  came  for  that  purpose  into  the 
world  ;  and  He  Who  strengthens  those  who  believe 
in  Him,  and  Who  teaches  them  to  despise  death. 
He  when  in  an  agony  sweats  drops  of  blood, 
and  is  strengthened  by  an  Angel ;  He  is  betrayed 
by  Judas,  He  Who  knew  well  what  Judas  was  ;  He  is 
shamefully  treated  by  Caiaphas  the  High  Priest, 
He  Who,  in  his  time,  had  been  before  consecrated 


JESUS  CHRIST,    VERY  GOD  AND   VERY  31  AN.     299 

High  Priest  as  God  ;  and  He  Who  will  judge  the 
World  is  set  at  nought  by  Herod  ;  He  is  scourged 
by  Pilate  Who  has  borne  our  infirmities.  He  is 
mocked  by  soldiers,  Who  has  thousands  of  thousands 
and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  of  Angels  and 
Archangels  waiting  upon  Him  ;  and  He  Who  has 
fixed  the  vault  of  the  heavens,  He  is  fixed  by  the 
Jews  to  the  Cross.  He  Who  is  inseparable  from  the 
Father,  with  a  loud  voice  commits  His  Spirit  to  the 
Father ;  and  He  Who  said,  '  I  have  power  to 
lay  down  My  life,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again  " 
(John  X.  1 8),  He  bows  His  head  and  gives  up  the 
ghost.  He  is  pierced  with  a  spear  in  His  side,  Who 
gives  life  to  all ;  He  Who  raises  the  dead,  He  being 
wrapped  in  linen  is  laid  in  a  tomb  ;  and  He  Who 
is  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  He  after  three  days 
is  raised  from  the  grave  by  the  Father.  He  did  all 
these  things  for  our  sakes.  He  Who  for  us  was  made 
like  to  us.  This  is  He  W^ho  was  hymned  at  His 
Birth  by  Angels,  and  was  seen  by  the  Shepherds, 
and  was  waited  for  by  Symeon,  and  was  witnessed  by 
Anna,  and  was  sought  for  by  the  Wise  Men,  and  was 
heralded  by  the  Star,  and  resorted  to  His  Father's 
House,  and  was  pointed  out  by  the  Baptist,  and  was 
attested  by  His  Father,  '  This  is  My  Beloved  Son, 
hear  ye  Him,'  and  was  crowned  after  His  victory 
over  the  Devil.  This  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  Who  was 
bidden  to  the  Marriage  at  Cana,  and  Who  changed 
Water  into  Wine  ;  and  Who  rebuked  the  Sea  when 
tossed  by  the  rage  of  the  Winds,  and  Who  walked  on 
the  Sea  as  on  dry  land,  and  gave  sight  to  the  man 
who  had  been  blind'  from  his  birth,  and  raised 
Lazarus,  who  had  been  dead  four  days  ;  and  healed 
many  diseases,  and  forgave  sins,  and  gave  like  power 


300  CHRIST  GOD  AND  MAN— ON  BAPTISM. 

to  His  disciples,  and  shed  out  of  His  side  water  and 
blood.  For  Him  the  Sun  is  darkened  (at  the 
Crucifixion),  the  day  has  no  light,  the  rocks  are  rent, 
the  veil  is  torn  in  twain,  the  foundations  of  the  earth 
are  shaken,  graves  are  opened,  dead  come  forth,  and 
the  Rulers  are  put  to  shame.  He  breathes  the  Holy 
Spirit  on  His  disciples,  and  enters  through  closed 
doors  into  the  upper  room. 

"  This  is  He  Who  ascends  on  a  cloud  into  heaven 
in  the  sight  of  His  disciples,  and  sitteth  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father,  and  will  come  again  to  judge  the 
quick  and  dead.  This  is  He  Who  is  God,  and 
Who  for  our  sakes  was  made  Man,  and  under 
Whose  feet  the  Father  has  put  all  things.  To  Him 
therefore,  with  the  Father,  and  with  the  Holy  Spirit, 
be  glory  and  power  in  the  Holy  Church  now  and 
through  all  ages  for  evermore.     Avieny 

In  his  Homily  on  Baptism,  S.  Hippolytus  thus  speaks 
(Hippol.  ed.  Fabric,  i.  261):— "The  Father  of  Immor- 
tality sent  forth  His  immortal  Son  and  Word  into  the 
world  ;  Who  came  to  wash  man  with  Water  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  having  regenerated  him  to  incor- 
ruption  of  soul  and  body,  breathed  into  us  the  breath 
of  life,  having  clothed  us  with  the  armour  of  immor- 
tality. If  then  Man  has  become  immortal,  he  will 
also  be  divinized  ;  and  if  he  is  divinized  through 
Water  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  after  the  regeneration 
given  in  the  baptismal  font,  he  will  also  be  fellow- 
heir  with  Christ  after  the  Resurrection  from  the  dead. 
Come  ye,  therefore,  and  be  born  again  to  the  adop- 
tion of  God.  He  who  descends  with  faith  into  the 
laver  of  Regeneration,  renounces  the  Devil,  and  dedi- 
cates himself  to  Christ ;  he  rejects  the  Enemy,  and 
confesses  that  Christ  is  God.     He  comes  forth  a  son 


S.  HIPPOLYTUS  AGAINST  THE  DENIAL  OF      301 
CHRIST'S  DIVINITY. 

of  God  and  fellow-heir  with  Christ.  To  Him  be 
Glory  and  Power  with  His  all-holy,  good,  and  life- 
giving  Spirit  now  and  ever." 

Some  passages  have  now  been  quoted  from  the 
Homily  of  S.  Hippolytus  against  the  Noetian,  or 
Patripassian,  form  of  Unitarianism ;  he  composed 
also  a  treatise  against  the  humanitarian  form  of  it,  as 
broached  by  Theodotus  and  Artemon,  some  portions 
of  which  are  preserved  by  Eusebius  (v.  28).^ 

He  there  refers  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  testify- 
ing the  Divinity  of  Christ ;  and  appeals  to  the  writ- 
ings of  Justin  Martyr,  Miltiades,  Justin,  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  Irenaeus,  and  others,  declaring  that 
Christ  is  "God  and  Man,"  and  to  the  numerous 
Psalms  and  Hymns  (aJSat)— and  he  himself  had  com- 
posed Hymns,  as  appears  from  the  titles  of  his  works 
on  his  Statue  —  "  written  by  faithful  men  from  primi- 
tive times,  which  celebrate  in  song  the  Word  of  God, 
Christ,  as  God."  ^  He  there  speaks  of  Jesus  Christ 
"  as  our  merciful  God  and  Lord,"  and  condemns  the 
Unitarian  (or,  as  we  should  now  call  it,  Socinian) 
heresy  of  Artemon  as  a  "  God-denying  heresy." 

In  his  recently-discovered  ''Refutation  of  all  Here- 
sies," S.  Hippolytus  contended  against  the  heresy  of 
Theodotus  (vii.  35  ;  x.  23),  and  against  Noetus,  Zephy- 
rinuSj  and  Callistus  (lib.  ix.  passim).     He  also  wrote  as 

^  The  proof  that  the  words  there  quoted  are  words  of  Hippolytus 
may  be  seen  in  my  work  on  S.  Hippolytus,  pp.  19,  20,  196,  210,  216. 
The  writer  says  that  he  had  composed  a  book  '*  on  the  Universe,"  which 
is  claimed  by  Hippolytus  in  his  Refutation  of  Heresies,  and  is  ascribed 
to  him  in  the  titles  of  works  on  his  Statue  mentioned  above.  See  also 
Heinichen's  note  on  Euseb,  v.  28. 

2  As  Pliny  says  in  his  letter  to  the  Emperor  Trajan  was  done  in  the 
Christian  assemblies  before  daylight  in  his  own  Province,  Bithynia.  Plin. 
Ep.  X.  97.     See  above,  p.  123. 


302  S.  HIPPOLYTUS-HIS  ADDRESS  TO  THE 

HE  A  THEN. 

follows  in  his  Address  to  the  Heathen  at  the  end  of 
the  Tenth  Book  of  that  Refutation  :— "  The  One  and 
Supreme  God  generated  the  Word  in  His  own  Mind; 
He  generated  Him  not  as  a  Voice,  but  as  the  in- 
dwelling Ratiocination  of  the  Universe;  Him  alone 
He  generated  out  of  what  existed,  for  the  Essence 
of  things  is  the  Father  Himself,  from  Whom  is  the 
cause  of  generation  to  what  is  generated.  The  Word 
was  in  the  Father  ;  and  when  the  Father  bade  what 
was  single  to  become  a  World,  the  Word  executed 
that  will,  doing  what  was  pleasing  to  the  Father." 

"The  Word  alone  is  of  God,  of  God  Himself; 
wherefore  He  is  God,  being  the  substance  of  God. 
The  Word  of  God  administers  all  things,  as  the  First- 
born Son  of  the  Father ;  the  light-bearing  Voice 
before  the  Morning  Star. 

*' Subsequently  good  men  were  born,  dear  to  God, 
and  called  Prophets,  because  they  foretold  the  future.. 
To  them  the  Word  came.  This  Word  the  Father 
has  sent  in  the  latter  days,  no  longer  by  a  Prophet, 
but  bidding  Him  be  manifest  face  to  face.  He 
took  a  body  from  the  Virgin,  and  fashioned  the  old 
Man  by  a  new  Creation  ;  Him  we  know  to  have  been 
a  Man  of  the  same  nature  as  ourselves.  He  underwent 
toil,  and  consented  to  suffer  hunger,  and  did  not 
decline  thirst,  and  took  rest  in  sleep,  and  did  not  refuse 
His  Passion,  and  became  obedient  to  Death,  and 
manifested  His  Resurrection,  consecrating  His  own 
manhood  as  the  firstfruits  in  all  these  things,  in 
order  that  when  thou  sufferest  thou  mayest  not  de- 
spond, owning  thyself  to  be  man  of  like  nature  with 
Christ,  and  waiting  for  the  reproduction  of  that  (the 
human  body)  which  thou  gavest  to  Him.  Christ  is 
the  God  over  all,  Who  gave  command  to  wash  away 


SABELLIUS.  303 

sins  from  men,  making  the  old  man  to  become  new, 
and  thus  showing  by  a  figure  His  love  to  thee  ;  and 
if  thou  hearkenest  to  His  holy  commandments,  and 
becomest  an  imitator  in  goodness  of  Him  Who  is  good, 
thou  wilt  be  like  Him,  being  honoured  by  Him."  ^ 

During  the  pontificate  of  Callistus,  Sabellius  ap- 
peared at  Rome  ;  an  heresiarch  superior  in  intellec- 
tual ability,  theological  science,  and  philosophical 
culture  to  Callistus^  or  Noetus. 

He  put  forth  a  more  consistent  form  of  Monar- 
chianism  than  any  of  the  Patripassians.  He  asserted 
the  Divine  Unity,  but  did  not  deny  the  Trinity. 
What  He  denied  was  a  Trinity  of  Divine  Persojts  in 
the  Unity.  The  three  Names,  Father,  Word,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  did  not,  according  to  him,  represent 
three  distinct  Persons,  but  three  different  phases  of 
the  manifestation  of  the  One  divine  Essence.  In 
his  view,  the  Monad  unfolded  became  the  Triad."* 

He  did  not  indeed  refuse  the  phrase  Tpla  irpoo-coiTa, 
three  persons ;  \>\it  in  his  theory  these  three  persons 
had  no  distinct  eternal  personality,  but  were  only 
three  varying  personifications.^ 

It  does  not  appear  that  Sabellius  ventured  to 
enter  into  the  lists  with  Hippolytus  at  Rome. 
He   seems  to   have    shrunk    from  the   conflict.     He 

3  If  the  reader  desires  to  see  further  remarks  on  the  theology  of  S. 
Hippolytus  as  to  the  Eternal  Generation,  and  consubstantiality,  and 
distinct  personality  of  the  Son  of  God,  may  I  refer  again  to  chap.  xiv. 
of  my  work  on  Hippolytus  ? 

^  S.  Athanas.  Orat.  iv.  c.  Arian.  §  13. 

*  Athanas.  Orat.  iv.  c  Arian.  S.  Basil,  Ep.  210,  Ep.  214,  Ep.  235. 
Theodoret,  Ha;r.  Fab.  ii.  9.  Neander,  ii.  p.  354.  In  the  time  of 
Theodoret  and  S.  Augustine  the  Noetians  had  disappeared,  but  the 
more  specious  heresy  of  Sabellius  still  sui-vived  (Theodoret,  Hter.  Fab. 
ii.  9,  II.  S.  Aug.  Hser.  41).  Noetianism  was  supplanted  by  Sabellianism. 


304  SABELLIUS;  DIONYSIUS,  BISHOP  OF  ALEXANDRIA  ; 
AND  DIONYSIUS  OF  ROME. 

migrated  from  Italy  to  his  own  country  Africa,  and 
was  there®  encountered,  about  A.D.  257,  by  the  cele- 
brated Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  sent  to 
Sixtus,  Bishop  of  Rome,  a  copy  of  what  he  had 
written  against  Sabellius.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  the  opposite  form  of  Monarchianism,  that  of 
Artemon,  having  been  driven  from  Rome,  mainly,  it 
is  probable,  by  the  efforts  of  S.  Hippolytus,  was  re- 
produced in  the  East  in  a  somewhat  modified  shape 
by  the  Bishop  of  Antioch,  Paul  of  Samosata,  of  whom 
more  will  be  said  hereafter  (chap,  xxv.) ;  and  who  taught 
that  the  Logos  (or  Word) — not  a  personal  existence, 
but  a  divine  influence — came  down  from  God  into 
the  Man  Christ  Jesus,  and  made  Him  in  a  certain 
sense  Son  of  God  and  divine,  and  thence  returned  to 
the  Father  (Euseb.  vii.  30). 

But  to  return  to  Sabellius.  It  may  be  regarded 
as  an  evidence  of  the  success  of  the  teaching  of  S. 
Hippolytus  at  Rome,  that  whereas  the  arguments  of 
Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria  (who  was  a  Scholar 
of  Origen,  and  who  issued  a  Pastoral  Letter  against 
Sabellianism),  were  liable  to  exception,^  inasmuch  as 
in  his  zeal  against  SabelHus  he  represented  the  Son 
of  God  not  only  as  a  distinct  Person  from  the  Father, 
but  by  an  excess  of  reaction  carried  the  doctrine  of 
subordination,  which  Origen  had  taught,  too  far,  and 
displayed  Him,  as  was  generally  thought,  in  a  position 
of  inferiority  to  the  Father  (so  that  in  after-days  he 
was  said  by  S.  Basil  to  have  even  sown  the  seeds  of 
Arianism,  S.  Basil,  Ep.  ix.j,  a  Bishop  of  Rome  arose, 
another  Dionysius  (who  succeeded  to  the  Episcopate 
in  A.D.  259,  in  the    place    of   the    martyred    Bishop 

^  Theodoret,  Haeret.  Fab.  ii.  9.     Euseb.  vii.  6. 
7  See  Athanasius  de  Sententia  Dionysii,  §  14. 


S.  DIONYSIUS  ON  MILLENARIANISM.  305 

Xystus),  to  remonstrate  with  him  ^  for  this  inadequate 
doctrine  concerning  the  Divine  Logos.  Dionysius  of 
Alexandria  gently,  wisely,  and  charitably  received 
the  fraternal  expostulation  from  his  namesake  of 
Rome,  and  wrote  a  full  explanation  of  his  meaning, 
which  gave  satisfaction  to  the  Church.^ 

This  seems  the  place  for  referring  to  another 
example  of  the  conciliatory  influence  of  Dionysius  of 
Alexandria  in  reference  to  the  Person  and  Divine 
Nature  of  Christ. 

He  was  of  opinion  that  the  doctrine  of  a  personal 
Reign  of  our  Lord  upon  earth  for  a  Thousand  Years 
after  His  second  Coming, — a  doctrine  held  by  some 
learned  and  good  men,  such  as  Justin  Martyr,  Irenseus, 
and  TertuUian,  and  grounded  by  them  on  their  inter- 
pretation of  the  Twentieth  Chapter  of  the  Book  of 
Revelation, — was  not  consistent  with  the  general 
teaching  of  Scripture  concerning  Christ's  Second 
Advent,  or  with  the  dignity  and  majesty  of  the  Son 
of  God.  The  Scriptures  teach  that  the  Saints  will 
be  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air  (i  Thess. 
iv.  7),  and  zvill  reign  zvitJi  CJirist  in  Jieaven ;  but 
the  Scriptures  do  not,  he  thought,  teach  that  Christ 
will  return  for  a  thousand  years  to  reign  here  below 
with  the  Saints  on  earth.  Dionysius  therefore  con- 
vened a  Conference  of  Clergy  and  others,  and  after 
giving  an  entire  day  to  patient  and  friendly  examina 
tion  of  the  subject  (Euseb.  vii.  24),  he  brought  them 
to  agree   in  the  judgment,  which  was  afterwards  for 

*  In  his  'AvaTpoirri,  Or  refutation,  portions  of  which  are  prcsei-ved 
in  the  work  of  S.  Athanasius  ^  de  Decretis  Synodi  NicsenDe.  See  also 
Routh,  Rehquice  Sacrse,  iii.  372—403  ;  Epist.  Rom.  Pontif,  p.  271,  ed. 
Coustant.  Paris,  1721  ;  Tillemont,  iv.  pp.  237 — 242. 

'■*  Euseb.  vii.  26,  S.  Athanasiusde  Sententia  Dionysii,  pp.  558,  561, 
565.     Fleury,  Hist.  Eccl.  ii.  343 — 348. 

X 


306     SABELLIANISM— RECOVERY  OF  THE  ROMAN 
CHURCH. 

fourteen  hundred  years  the  generally-received  opinion 

of  the  Church  on  that  question.^ 

In  reviewing  the  history  of  the  Sabellian  heresy,  we 
recognize  with  great  gratification  a  noble  example  of 
Christian  zeal  and  courage  on  one  side,  and  of  Chris- 
tian meekness  and  humility  on  the  other.  Here  also 
was  a  happy  recovery  of  the  Church  of  Rome  from 
the  erroneous  and  heretical  teaching  of  two  of  her 
Bishops,  Zephyrinus  and  Callistus  ;  and  a  restoration 
of  her  orthodoxy  by  another  of  her  Bishops,  Diony- 
sius  of  Rome.  Here  was  a  triumph  of  the  true  faith 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  Godhead,  Manhood,  and  distinct 
Personality  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  a  declaration  of 
the  Glory  of  the  Eternal  Trinity,  and  of  the  Divine 
Majesty  in  the  Unity. 

Here  also  was  a  blessed  consummation  of  the  work 
of  S.  Hippolytus  ;  and  a  signal  proof  of  the  divine 
grace  and  benediction  vouchsafed  to  his  efforts  in  the 
defence  of  the  Truth. 

S.  Hippolytus  died  a  Martyr  to  the  Faith.  Reasons 
have  been  given  elsewhere^  for  believing  that  the 
Hymn  of  Prudentius,  on  his  Martyrdom,  is  historically 
true  ;  and  that  Hippolytus  suffered  by  being  torn  in 
pieces  by  wild  horses  at  Portus,^  under  the  Emperor 
Valerian,  on  Aug.  13,  A.D.  258,  a  few  days  after  the 
Martyrdoms  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  S.  Xystus,  and 
of  his  faithful  follower  the  Archdeacon  of  Rome,  S. 
Laurence  ;  and  about  a  month  before  the  Martyrdom 
of  the  great  Bishop  of  Carthage,  S.  Cyprian  ;  and  that 
the  mortal  remains  of  S.  Hippolytus  were  conveyed 

*  For  evidence  of  this  may  I  refer  to  my  notes  on  Rev.  xx.  6,  p.  268  ? 

2  In  chapter  ix.  of  my  work  on  S.  Hippolytus. 

3  Ibid.  p.  161. 


MARTYRDOM  OF  S.  HIP  POL  YTUS  :  HIS  TOMB      307 
AND  ST  A  TUB. 

to  Rome  by  his  friends,  and  were  honourably  buried 

near  those  of  S.  Laurence   in   the  crypt  of  a  Sacred 

Chapel,  in  which  Prudentius  saw  a  fresco  painting  in 

which  his  martyrdom  was  represented,  and  to  which, 

on   the   anniversary  of  that  martyrdom,    crowds    of 

pilgrims  resorted  to  visit  the  Martyr's  grave. 

It  was  at  that  spot,  near  the  present  Church  of 
S.  Laurence,  that  the  ancient  Statue  of  S.  Hippolytus 
was  discovered  in  the  year  1551  ;  which  is  now  in  the 
Lateran  Museum  at  Rome  (above,  p.  286). 

Perhaps  that  Statue  was  erected  in  his  memory 
soon  after  his  martyrdom,  in  the  Episcopate  of  the 
great  Roman  Bishop  Dionysius,  by  faithful  and 
loving  friends  and  admirers,  who  desired  to  express 
their  thankfulness  to  Almighty  God  for  delivering 
the  Church  of  Rome,  and  other  Western  Churches, 
from  dangerous  and  deadly  heresy,''  and  for  the  vin- 
dication of  the  True  Faith,  in  the  Godhead  of  His 
dear  Son,  and  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Ever-blessed 
Trinity,  by  the  wisdom,  learning,  courage,  and  piety 
of  His  faithful  Servant  and  Martyr,  S.  Hippolytus, 
Bishop  of  Portus. 

4  A  debt  is  also  due  to  S.  Hippolytus  from  Christendom  for  refuting— 
by  anticipation— by  his  own  teaching  and  practice,  the  modern  heresy 
of  Papal  Infallibility,  which  is  the  root  .of  many  other  heresies,  as  is 
shown  in  the  work  above  quoted,  on  Hippolytus,  chap.  xvii. 


X    2 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Tendencies  of  S.  Hippolytns  to  Novatianism — Pleas 
iirged  in  favour  of  that  Schism — Occasion  of  its 
Rise  and  Groivth — Novatian  at  Rome — the  first 
A  ntipope — against  Cornelius — Novatus  at  Carthage 
against  Cyprian — 5.  Cyprian  s  Remonstrances — 
Action  of  S.  Hippolytns — Intervention  of  S. 
Dionysius  of  Alexandria — Controversy  on  Baptism 
by  Heretics — Carthage  and  Rome — Healing  of 
the  Schism — Inferences  from  it — Comments  of 
S.  Augustine  and  Richard  Hooker, 

In  reading  the  life  and  writings  of  S.  Hippolytus, 
Bishop  of  Portus,  we  recognize  salutary  warnings, 
that  no  one,  however  eminent  for  piety,  learning,  and 
zeal,  is  free  from  human  infirmities;  and  also,  that, 
when  the  Spiritual  Enemy  of  the  Church  is  foiled  in 
his  efforts  to  deprave  her  by  heresy,  he  resorts  to 
another  expedient,  and  endeavours  to  divide  her  by 
schism,  especially  by  such  schism  as  makes  specious 
professions  of  superior  zeal  for  holiness  and  purity. 

They  who  have  studied  the  narrative  which 
S.  Hippolytus  has  given  of  his  own  proceedings  at 
Rome,  in  the  Ninth  Book  of  his  recently-discovered 
treatise,  "The  Refutation  of  all  Heresies,"  will  have 
noticed  in  it  some  questionable  expressions  on  the 
true    nature    of  Church    Communion,    and    on    the 


TENDENCIES  OF  HIPPOLYTUS  TOWARD         309 
NO  VA  TIANISM. 

administration  of  Church  disciphne  ;    and  they  will 

have  observed   that  those   statements   could   hardly 

fail,  if  carried  to  their  logical  results,  to  cause  such  a 

division  in  the  Church,  as  did  in  fact  soon  afterwards 

manifest  itself  at  Rome  in  Novatianism. 

In  that  narrative  Hippolytus  appears  to  entertain  a 
doubt  whether  the  Church  visible  on  earth  is,  and 
ever  will  be,  a  Society  in  which  evil  men  are  mingled 
with  the  good.^  He  seems  not  to  realize  the  truth, 
that  the  Ark  of  Noah,  in  which  clean  animals  were 
contained  with  unclean,  was  in  that  respect  a  figure  of 
the  Church  ;  he  appears  not  to  have  clearly  recognized 
that  our  Lord's  Parable  of  the  Tares  and  the  Wheat 
left  to  grow  together  in  the  field  till  they  are  severed 
at  the  day  of  harvest,  was  intended  to  be  a  divine 
lesson  on  the  duties  of  patience,  hope,  and  charity,  to 
be  practised  by  the  true  Christian,  tolerating  evil  in 
this  present  world,  and  endeavouring  to  overcome  it 
with  good,  and  to  change  evil  into  good  ;  at  the  same 
time  that  he  looks  forward  with  faith  to  the  Great 
Day  of  harvest,  when  the  evil  will  be  severed  for  evjer 
from  the  good,  not  by  the  hand  of  man,  but  of  the 
Angel  reapers,  acting  by  the  command  of  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest,  and  when,  the  good  will  be  gathered 
together  for  ever  into  the  garner  of  heaven. 

We  need  not  be  surprised  at  this.  The  minds  of 
pious  and  zealous  men — even  in  proportion  to  their 
piety  and  zeal — are  apt  to  be  provoked  by  laxity  of 
Church  discipline,  and  by  toleration  of  evil  practices, 
such  as  Hippolytus  saw  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  A 
perfectly  pure  and  holy  Church  seems  to  them  to  be 
the  only  fitting  Bride  of  Him  Who  is  pure  and  holy. 
Such   persons    are    impatient    of  any   taint   in   her. 

1  See  on  Hippolytus,  p.  92,  and  the  note  there,  and  p.  147. 


310  PLEAS  FOR  NOVATIANISM. 

Any  "spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,"  seems  to 
be  unworthy  of  her,  and  of  Him  Whose  she  is.  They 
antedate  the  day  of  Harvest.  They  confound  the 
Church  visible  here  on  earth  with  what  she  hopes  to 
be  when  glorified  with  her  Lord  hereafter  in  heaven. 

S.  Hippolytus  may  have  profited  by  the  work  of  the 
great  African  Father,  TertuUian,  against  Praxeas  the 
Patripassian ;  and  he  may  also  have  been  deeply 
stirred  by  Tertulli^n's  denunciations  of  the  laxity  of 
Church  discipline,  especially  at  Rome  (De  Pudic.  c.  i). 
He  may  have  shared  with  TertulHan  in  his  longings 
for  unsullied  purity,  and  in  his  rigid  notions  as  to 
non-remissibility,  by  the  Church,  of  mortal  sin  after 
baptism,  which  carried  away  that  vigorous  and 
energetic,  but  vehement  and  enthusiastic,  Theologian 
into  the  sectarian  ranks  of  Montanism. 

Hippolytus  appears  also  to  have  had  much  sym- 
pathy in  doctrine  and  discipline  with  another  person, 
perhaps  the  ablest  Roman  (as  distinct  from  African) 
writer  of  that  time ;  indeed,  the  only  Roman  eccle- 
siastic of  that  age  who  appears  to  have  attained  any 
celebrity  in  dogmatic  theology,^ — Novatian. 

Novatian  was  a  presbyter  of  the  Roman  Church  ;  he 
was  employed  as  Secretary  of  that  Church  in  her 
correspondence  with  the  African,  on  the  case  of  the 
lapsed  (that  is,  those  who  had  fallen  away  from  the 
faith,  in  times  of  persecution),  as  to  their  re-admissi- 
bility  to  the  Church  ;  and  he  distinguished  himself  in 
fighting  the  same  battle  of  the  faith  as  Hippolytus,  by 
writing  an  excellent  work  in  Latin — still  extant — on 
the  doctrine  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  in  which  there  are 

2  It  has  been  well  remarked  by  Neander  that  the  title  o  lo-^ixaTiCT^s 
(Euseb.  vi,  43),  applied  to  Novatian,  shows  how  rare  the  character  of 
a  dogmatic  theologian  was  at  Rome  at  that  time. 


NOVATIAN,   THE  FIRST  ANTIPOPE.  311 

many  resemblances  to  the  words  of  S.  Hippolytus  in 
his  recently-recovered  Treatise.^ 

Novatian,  being  tempted  perhaps  by  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  own  superiority  in  sacred  learning  and 
intellectual  ability,  as  well  as  by  a  conceit  that  he  was 
promoting  the  purity  and  holiness  of  the  Church  by  a 
rigid  system  of  penitential  discipline  (on  behalf  of 
which  he  appealed  to  the  well-known  passage  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews'),  set  himself  up  in  opposition 
to  Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  became  the  first 
A  ntipope. 

The  occasion  of  the  schism  was  this.  In  A.D.  251, 
Novatus,  a  Presbyter  of  the  Church  of  Carthage, 
who  with  others  had  formed  a  party  against  Cyprian 
(raised  soon  after  his  baptism,  A.D.  247,  to  the  order 
of  Priesthood,  and  in  A.D.  248  to  the  Episcopate  of 
that  City),  came  to  Rome,  and  excited  Novatian 
to  follow  his  example,  and  to  become  the  leader  in  a 
similar  schism  against  Cornelius,  recently  elected 
Bishop  of  Rome/ 

The  plea  urged  on  behalf  of  that  schism,  was  that 
Cornelius,  who  was  of  one  accord  with  Cyprian,  had 
lapsed  from  the  faith  in  the  time  of  the  persecution 
under  the  Emperor  Decius,  A.D.  250  (in  which  Fabius, 
Bishop  of  Rome,  had  suffered  martyrdom)  ;  and  that 
he  had  relaxed  the  penitential  discipline  of  the  Church 
by  readmitting  to  communion  on  easy  terms  those 
who  had  fallen  from  the  faith  ;  and  that,  therefore,  he 
ought  not  to  be  recognized  as  a  true  Bishop  of  the 


3  The  evidence  of  this  is  given  in  my  Hippolytus,  pp.  107,  iii,  112. 

•»  See  on  Heb.  vi.  4—8,  and  Tertullian  de  Pudicit.  c.  20. 

5  See  the  full  account  in  the  Bishop  of  Truro's  article  on  S.  Cyprian 
(to  be  followed,  it  is  hoped,  by  an  edition  of  S.  Cyprian),  in  Professor 
Wace's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Biography,  pp.  743 — 74^-  j 


312  s:  CYPRIAN  ON  NOVATIANISM. 

Church,  and  that  a  faithful  Bishop  ought  to  be  elected 
in  his  place. 

Consequently,  Novatian  was  chosen  by  some  who 
held  these  opinions,  and  was  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Rome  by  three  Bishops/ 

S.  Cyprian  and  the  Church  of  Carthage  protested 
against  this  invasion  ;  not  so  much,  however,  on  the 
ground  that  Novatian's  opinions  on  Church  discipline 
were  erroneous,  as  that  his  actw3.s  one  of  schismatical 
usurpation.  Cornelius,  he  said,  had  been  duly  elected 
and  consecrated  Bishop  of  Rome.  A  second  Bishop 
of  a  see,  when  full,  was  no  Bishop  at  all.  The 
Unity  of  the  Church  is  maintained  by  the  Oneness  of 
the  Episcopate.  .  To  set  up  Bishop  against  Bishop, 
and  altar  against  altar,  was  to  tear  asunder  the  Unity 
of  the  Church — the  Body  and  Spouse  of  Christ ;  to 
rend  His  seamless  Coat ;  to  be  guilty  of  the  gainsay- 
ing of  Korah,  and  to  be  liable  to  his  punishment ;  to 
commit  deadly  sin,  which  could  not  be  expiated  by 
martyrdom.'' 

How  did  S.  Hippolytus  act  under  these  circum- 
stances at  Rome  .'* 

Prudentius  informs  us,  in  the  hymn  concerning  his 
martyrdom,  that  Hippolytus  had  "  once  nearly  touched 
the  schism  of  Novatus."*  This,  in  truth,  is  evident 
from  passages  in  his  lately-discovered  work.^  But 
Prudentius  adds  that  Hippolytus  renounced  his  error  ; 
and    it    is   certain    that,    however    he    might    have 

*  See  S.  Cyprian,  Epist.  42,  46,  49,  52,  55,  and  his  Treatise  de  Unitate 
Ecclesise  ;  Euseb.  vi.  43  ;  Theodoret,  Haer.  Fab.  iii.  5. 

7  These  principles  were  strenuously  asserted  by  S.  Cyprian  in  his 
Epistles,  and  especially  in  his  Treatise  de  Unitate  Ecclesiae,  written 
A.D.  251,  pp.  loJi — 113  (ed.  Fell),  where  he  says,  "Esse  martyr  non 
potest  qui  in  Ecclesia  non  est  ;  inexpiabilis  culpa  discordire  nee  passione 
purgatur.      Occidi  talis  potest,  coronari  non  potest." 

^  The  words  may  be  seen  in  my  Hippolytus,  pp.  159 — 161. 

^  See  above,  p.  309. 


ACTION  OF  HIPPOL¥TUS— INADEQUACY  01      313 
CYPRIANS  OPINIONS. 

approved  Novatian's  notions  as  to  penitential  disci- 
pline, he  never  would  have  carried  them  to  the  same 
result  that  Novatian  did,  and  have  set  up  a  rival 
Bishop  at  Rome.  We  hear  of  no  such  attempt  on  his 
part,  even  in  the  evil  days  of  the  two  Popes, 
Zephyrinus  and  CaUistus,  whom  he  resisted  face  to 
face.  Much  less  would  he  have  joined  in  any  such 
proceedings  against  such  a  faithful  Bishop  as 
Cornelius.  In  the  full  and  circumstantial  correspond- 
ence between  the  Churches  of  Rome  and  Carthage 
at  that  time,  where  the  names  of  the  opponents  of 
Cornelius  are  given,  there  is  no  mention  of  Hippolytus. 

And  how  was  the  schism  healed  } 

S.  Cyprian,  with  all  his  ability,  eloquence,  and 
piety,  was  not  equal  to  the  work.  This  is  clear  from 
his  proceedings  concerning  *'  heretical  baptism,"  that 
is,  baptism  administered  by  heretics.  His  own 
notions  on  Church  Communion  needed  revision.  He 
was  of  opinion  that  the  virtue,  which  Sacraments 
derive  from  their  divine  institution  by  Christ,  was 
vitiated  by  lack  of  personal  faith  and  holiness  in  their 
minister.^  Consequently,  in  some  respects,  he  ap- 
proximated to  the  tenets  of  Novatian  on  penitential 
discipline,  although  he  was  vehemently  opposed,  as  a 
Bishop,  to  Novatian's  invasion  of  the  Episcopal  office, 
and  to  his  violation  of  the  Unity  of  the  Church  by 
such  an  usurpation. 

It  is  probable  that  S.  Cyprian's  theological  opinions 
on  penitential  discipline  had  been  warped  by  his 
enthusiastic  admiration  of  Tertullian  and  of  his 
writings.''^     "  Da    magistrum "    was   his   saying   when 

^  See  the  full  report  of  the  controversy  in  Bishop  Benson's  excellent 
Article,  in  Prof.  Wace's  Dictionary,  pp.  749—  753. 

2  Tertullian  rejected  the  baptism  ministered  by  heretics  ;  see  his 
Work  de  Baptismo,  c.  15     and  his  Treatise  de  Pudicitia,  passim. 


314  PROVIDENTIAL  ACTION  OF DIONYSIUS. 

he  asked  his  secretary  to  hand  him  his  copy  of  Ter- 
tullian.^ 

But  there  was  another  person  who  was  better  quali- 
fied for  the  work.  This  was  Dionysius,  Bishop  of 
Alexandria.  He  was  eminent  for  soundness  in  the 
faith,  and  for  courage  in  maintaining  it  in  persecution  ; 
and  not  less  so,  for  his  large-hearted  and  far-reaching 
sympathies  and  universal  charity. 

At  the  close  of  the  Decian  persecution  in  A.D.  251 
(in  the  summer  of  that  year),  Cornelius  had  been 
elected  Bishop  of  Rome.  He  wrote  to  Dionysius  a 
letter  concerning  the  state  of  his  Church,  distracted 
by  the  schism  of  Novatian.  Novatian  also  addressed 
Dionysius,  who  wrote  a  reply,  urging  him  in  earnest 
and  affectionate  terms  to  heal  the  schism  by  resign- 
ing his  Bishopric  (Euseb.  vi.  45).  He  also  wrote 
several  letters  on  the  efficacy  of  Repentance,  and 
remonstrated  with  the  associates  of  Novatian,  and 
prevailed  on  them  to  return  to  the  Unity  of  the 
Church.  Cornelius,  with  sixty  Bishops  in  Synod  at 
Rome,  offered  them  terms  of  reconciliation  and  peace. 
Dionysius  of  Alexandria  also  wrote  to  the  Romans 
a  letter  hi  'IttttoXvtou,  "  by  HippolytiisT^ 

He  expressed  his  disapproval  of  Novatianism  as 
contravening  the  love  and  mercy  of  Christ  (Euseb. 
vii.  8).  Soon  afterwards,  in  his  letter  on  Repentance, 
he  speaks  of  the  schism  as  healed  (Euseb.  vii.  9). 

Dionysius  was  the  greatest  Bishop  of  the  East  at 
that  time  ;  and  Hippolytus  was  one  of  the  most 
eloquent,  learned,  and  able  Bishops  of  the  West.  He 
may  have  been  influenced  by  the  letters  of  Dionysius 

^  S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  53. 

4  See  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  69  ;  Euseb.  vi.  46  ;  and  the  remarks  in  my 
Hippolytus,  p.  178. 


PROTEST  OF  HIPPOLYTUS— CYPRIAN' S  ERROR—  315 
STEPHEN,  BISHOP  OF  ROME. 

to    Rome — perhaps    transmitted    through   himself — 

on  Novatianism ;    at   any  rate,    we   have   reason   to 

beheve  from  the  testimony  of  Prudentius,  that  though 

he  had  once  been  incHned  to  its  tenets,  he  pronounced 

a  protest  against  them  before  A.D.  258,  when,  as  is 

probable,  he    suffered    as  a   Martyr   for  the  faith,  a 

month  before  the  martyrdom  of  S.  Cyprian. 

To  return  for  a  short  time  to  S.  Cyprian.  His 
master,  Tertullian,  had  said,  '*  There  is  One  Lord, 
One  Faith,  One  Baptism,  One  God  and  Father  of 
us  all  (Eph.  iv.  5,  6).  Yes,  and  this  is  only  true  of 
us  who  know  and  call  upon  the  true  God  and  Christ. 
But  heretics  have  not  this  God  and  Christ  ;  this  say- 
ing therefore  cannot  apply  to  them  ;  and  they  do 
not  rightly  administer  it ;  their  baptism  is  the  same 
as  no  baptism  "  (Tertull.  de  Baptismo,  c.  15). 

Seventy  Bishops  in  a  Synod  held  at  Carthage 
pronounced  in  this  sense,  but  did  not  desire  to  impose 
their  opinion  on  others  as  a  term  of  communion. 

Stephen,  Bishop  of  Rome,  issued-  a  sentence  of 
excommunication  in  A.D.  253  against  Bishops  of  Asia 
Minor,  Cappadocia,  and  Cilicia,  who  had  adopted 
the  same  sentiments  (Euseb.  vii.  5.  Firmilian  in 
Cyprian,  Ep.  75).  Two  Synods  held  by  Cyprian 
A.D.  255  at  Carthage  (one  composed  of  eighteen,  the 
other  of  seventy-one  Bishops)  declared  their  judgment 
that  the  Baptism  of  heretics  ought  not  to  be  regarded 
as  valid,  although  they  were  aware  that  Stephen 
and  the  Church  of  Rome  held  a  different  opinion. 
Cyprian  communicated  the  decision  of  the  latter 
Synod  with  a  conciliatory  letter  to  Stephen  (Epist. 
72),  who  replied  in  the  language  of  resentment  and 
rebuke.^  Upon  this,  Cyprian  convened  in  256  a 
5  Cp.  S.  Aug.  de  Bapt.  v.  23. 


316  POPE  STEPHEN'S  ACTS— CYPRIAN'S  VIEWS  AS  TO 
P  OMAN  SUPREMA  C  V : 

larger  Council  of  eighty-sevfen  Bishops,  who,  notwith- 
standing the  denunciations  of  Stephen,  adhered  to 
the  judgment  of  the  former  African  Synods.  So  little 
did  they  imagine  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was 
Supreme  and  Infallible  Head  of  the  Church.  Cyprian 
in  his  turn  (Ep.  71)  condemned  baptism  by  heretics 
as  "  sordid  and  profane,"  "  treacherous  and  menda- 
cious," and  said  that  there  can  be  "  no  communion  of 
Christ  with  Antichrist."  "How  (he  asked)  can  a  man 
cleanse  others,  who  is  not.  clean,  and  with  whom  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  not  ?  What  prayer  can  a  sacrilegious 
sinner  offer  over  a  baptized  person  ? "  (Ep.  70.) 

At  the  same  time  it  appears  that  Cyprian,  although 
he  held  to  his  own  opinion,  yet  differed  in  this  respect 
from  Stephen,  in  that  he  did  not  enforce  it  on  otJiers 
as  a  term  of  communion,  inasmuch  as  the  question 
was  one  which  had  not  as  yet  been  decided  by  the 
Church.^ 

The  Bishop  of  Rome,  Stephen_,  had  the  best  of 
the  argument,  as  to  dogma;  but  the  Bishop  of 
Carthage  surpassed  him  in  charity.  And  a  greater 
than  both  has  said  that  a  man  may  "  have  faith  so 
as  to  remove  mountains,"  and  yet,  if  he  has  not 
charity,  **  he  is  nothing"  (i  Cor.  xiii.  2). 

S.  Cyprian  entered  into  correspondence  with  Asiatic 
Bishops,  especially  Firmilian,  Bishop  of  Caesarea  in 
Cappadocia,  who  expressed  their  concurrence  with 
their  African  brethren,  g,nd  some  Asiatic  Synods 
issued  decrees' to  that  effect  (Euseb.  vii.  5  and  7). 

Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  comes  here  again 
before  us  as  a  peacemaker  ;  he  expostulated  with 
Stephen,  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  his  successor  Xystus, 
and  exhorted  them  to  forbearance  and  brotherly  love. 

^  S.  Aug.  de  Bapt.  iii.  3  j  v.  25  i  in  Petilian.  c.  14 ;  Serm.  37.  ^ 


ON  BAPTISM  BY  HERETICS— THE  TEACHER'S    317 
ERROR  THE  PEOPLE'S  TRIAL. 

He  congratulated  the  Bishop  of  Rome  on  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  Novatian  Schism/  and  endeavoured  to 
restore  peace  between  Rome  and  Carthage. 

The  persecution  under  Valerian,  which  united 
Xystus,  Hippolytus,  and  Cyprian  as  Martyrs,  put  an 
end  to  the  strife  for  a  time. 

In  the  Eighth  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Aries, 
A.D.  314,  it  was  decreed  that  Baptism  administered 
by  heretics,  in  the  Name  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  was 
valid,  and  ought  not  to  be  repeated  ;  and  in  the 
Eighth  Canon  of  the  General  Council  of  Nicaea,  A.D. 
325,  the  Baptisms  administered,  and  Ordinations  con- 
ferred, by  Novatians  were  also  declared  to  be  valid. 

Many  pleas  were  urged  against  S.  Augustine  in 
the  fifth  century  by  the  Donatists,  when,  on  pretence 
of  zeal  for  the  purity  of  the  Church,  and  on  the  plea 
that  heretics  and  traditcrs  of  the  faith  in  persecution 
cannot  give,  in  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  the 
Holy  Spirit,  Whom  they  have  grieved,  they  set  up 
Majorinus  as  Bishop  of  Carthage,  in  opposition  to 
Caecilianus  (A.D.  311),  whom  they  accused  as  having 
been  consecrated  by  a  Ti^aditor,  Felix  Bishop  of 
Aptunga.  But  none  of  those  arguments  was  so  for- 
midable '  as  the  appeal  they  made  to  the  authority 
and  practice  of  S.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  whom 
Africa  and  all  Christendom  honoured  as  a  Blessed 
Martyr.  So  true  we  find  it  by  experience  of  all  ages 
of  the  Church,  that  "  the  Teacher's  error  is  the  people's 

7  Euseb.  vii.  4,  5,  7  ;  cp.  Tillemont,  iv.  142,  143,  who  thinks  that 
while  Dionysius  disapproved  the  harshness  of  Stephen,  he  rather  in- 
clined to  his  opinion,  and  that  Dionysius  succeeded  in  appeasing  the 
strife,  ibid.  iv.  160. 

8  S.  Aug.  de  Bapt.  i.  18 ;  iii.  4  ;  iv.  6  ;  v.  17  ;  vi.  2. 


318  S.  AUGUSTINE  ON  S.   CYPRIAN'S  ERROR. 

trial,  harder  so  much  the  more  to  bear,  as  he  is,  in  worth 
and  regard,  greater  that  mispersuadeth  them."  ^ 

In  reply  to  his  Donatist  opponents,  S.  Augustine 
maintained,  that  the  Baptism  instituted  by  Christ  is 
always  holy,  wherever  it  is.  He  said  that  although 
it  may  exist  among  those  who  are  heretics  or  schis- 
matics, it  is  not  derived  from  their  heresy  or  schism, 
nor  is  any  part  of  it  ;  and  therefore  those  who  have 
been  baptized  by  heretics  or  schismatics  in  the  name 
of  the  Trinity  ought  not  to  be  baptized  again  when 
they  come  to  the  Church  (De  Bapt.  i.  20). 

He  asserted  that  Sacraments  may  exist -^.r^xovig  schis- 
matics and  heretics,  but  that  they  do  not  profit  those 
who  are  in  heresy  and  schism,  inasmuch  as  (according 
to  St.  Paul,  I  Cor.  xiii.  i — 3)  "  nothing  profiteth  without 
charity,"  and  no  person  can  be  rightly  said  to  have 
charity,  who  breaks  the  unity  of  the  Church.  There- 
fore he  exhorts  the  Donatists  to  come  to  the  Unity  of 
the  Church,  in  order  that  the  Sacraments,  which  they 
have  received  in  schism,  may  begin  to  profit  them  in 
unity.  ^ 

As  to  the  plea  grounded  by  the  Donatists  on  the 
authority  of  Cyprian,  Augustine  replied  that  great  and 
good  men  are  men,  and  that,  as  men,  they  are  subject  to 
human  infirmity  ;  and  that  by  the  errors  of  good  men 
God  tries  His  Church,  whether  she  will  follow  human 
teachers,  or  Him  Who  is  the  Truth.  He  added,  that 
Cyprian  showed  his  humility,  meekness,  and  charity 
by  not  breaking  the  Unity  of  the  Church,  and  by 
communicating  with  those  who  differed  from  him  ; 
and  that  the  memory  of  his  errors  was  effaced  by  the 

^  Hooker,  V.  Ixii.  9. 

^  S.  Aug.  c.  Donat.  i.  18  ;  iv.  24  ;  c.  Crescon.  ii.  12  ;  c.  Petil.  c.  15  ; 
Ep.  89  ;  de  Bapt.  i.  8  ;  in  Joann.  vi. 


APPLICA  TION  TO  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.    319 

glory  of  his  Martyrdom  for  Christ  ;  and  that,  after  his 
time,  it  had  pleased  God  to  settle  the  question 
permanently  by  decrees  of  Councils  of  the  Church  ; 
and  that  therefore  the  Donatists  could  not  be  excused 
for  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  Church,  especially  by  an 
appeal  to  Cyprian,  who  laboured  earnestly  to  promote 
it ;  and  that  God  had  permitted  the  question  to  be 
debated  with  earnestness  on  both  sides,  in  order  that 
both  sides  having  been  impartially  heard,  it  might  for 
ever  be  set  at  rest.^ 

The  interest  of  this  subject,  for  all  members  of  the 
Church  of  England,  will  justify  this  enlargement  upon 
it. 

"  Where  was  your  Church  before  the  Reformation  ?  " 
is  a  question  often  put  to  us  by  Romanists.  And 
there  have  been  some  English  Protestants,  and  still 
are,  who  do  harm  to  the  cause  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  who  promote  the  interests  of  Rome,  by 
denying  that  the  Church  of  England,  when  she  was 
corrupted  by  Roman  error  before  the  Reformation, 
was  a  Church  of  Christ ;  and  by  representing 
Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer,  and  even  King 
Henry  VIIL,  as  founders  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Let  such  persons  be  requested  to  study  the  history 
of  the  Novatian  Schism  under  Cornelius,  arid  of  the 
controversy  concerning  heretical  baptism  under  S. 
Cyprian,  and  the  revival  of  that  controversy  by  the 
Donatists  under  S.  Augustine,  and  the  arguments  by 
which  it  was  refuted  by  that  great  Theologian.  Let 
them  read  the  history  of  those  controversies,  illustrated 

2  S.  Aug.  in  Psal.  54,  "  Non  perfecte  de  baptismate  tractatum  est, 
antequam  contradicerent  foris  positi  rebaptizatores." 


320  S.  AUGUSTINE  AND  RICHARD  HOOKER. 

by  the  comments  of  one  who  had  much  of  the 
spirit  of  S.  Augustine — our  own  Richard  Hooker — 
in  his  reply  to  the  Puritans,  in  the  Third  Book  of  his 
Ecclesiastical  Polity.  They  will  then  contemplate 
the  Church  of  England  in  her  true  light,  namely,  not 
as  a  Church  of  human  creation  or  of  recent  origin,  but 
as  essentially  one  and  the  same  Church,  though  with 
different  degrees  of  soundness,  at  different  times,  for 
eighteen  centuries,  from  the  days  of  the  Holy  Apostles 
to  the  present  day.  They  will  learn  that  a  Church 
does  not  cease  to  be  a  Church,  because  she  may  have 
erring  members,  or  even  heretical  ministers,  in  her 
communion.  No  Church  has  ever  existed  without  such 
admixtures.  They  will  learn,  that  wilful  separation 
from  a  Church  which  has  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  a 
duly  ordained  Ministry,  and  the  Christian  Sacraments, 
is  sinful,  unless  the  said  Church  enforces  on  her  mem- 
bers heretical  doctrines,  as  terms  of  Communion  ;  and 
then  the  guilt  of  the  Schism  (and  there  is  no  wilful 
Schism  without  guilt)  is  with  the  Church  which  enforces 
such  terms  as  make  communion  with  her  to  be 
impossible,  and  is  not  with  those,  who  do  not  accept^ 
and  who  cannot  accept,  those  terms,  consistently 
with  their  loyalty  to  Christ,  Who  is  the  Truth. 

Let  me  add  some  other  portions  of  Hooker's 
comments,^  "  For  lack  of  diligent  observing  the  dif- 
ference, first,  between  the  Church  of  God  mystical 
and  visible, — then,  between  the  visible  sound  and 
corrupted,  sometimes  more,  sometimes  less, — the 
oversights  are  neither  few  nor  light  that  have 
been  committed.  From  hence  it  grew  that  the 
African  Bishops  in  the  Coiuicil  of  Carthage  (a.D. 
256),  knowing  how  the  administration  of  Baptism 
3  Hooker,  E.  P.  III.  i.  9. 


HOOKER  ON  DONA  TISM  AND  NO  VA  TIANISM.     321 

belongeth  only  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  supposing 
that  Heretics,  which  were  apparently  severed  from  the 
sound  believing  Church,  could  not  possibly  be  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  thought  it  utterly  against 
reason,  that  Baptism,  administered  by  men  of  corrupt 
belief,  should  be  accounted  a  Sacrament."  Hooker 
then  quotes  some  of  the  allegations  of  the  African 
Bishops  to  that  effect.  "I  know  of  no  Baptism," 
said  one  of  those  Bishops,  "  but  one,  and  that  in  the 
Church  only,  none  outside  the  Church,  where  he  that 
doth  cast  out  the  devil  hath  the  devil  ;  the  faithless 
offers  articles  of  faith.  Antichrist  signeth  in  the  Name 
of  Christ ;"  and  the  like.  "  All  this,  he  adds,  was  not 
sufficient  to  prove  that  heretics  were  in  no  sort  any 
part  of  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  and  that  con, 
sequently  their  baptism  was  no  baptism.  This  opinion 
was  therefore  afterwards  condemned." 

Hooker  applies  this  to  the  erroneous  allegation  of 
some,  who  ask  us,  "  Where  did  our  Church  of  England 
lurk,  in  what  cave  of  the  earth  it  slept,  for  so  many 
hundreds  of  years  before  the  birth  of  Martin  Luther  ? 
As  if  we  were  of  opinion  that  Luther  did  erect  a  new 
Church  of  Christ !  No  ;  the  Church  of  Christ,  which 
was  from  the  beginning,  is,  and  continueth  unto  the 
end  ;  of  which  Church  all  parts  have  not  been  always 
equally  sincere  and  sound." 

Our  English  reformers  in  the  sixteenth  century  did 
not  pretend  to  set  up  a  new  Church,  or  to  destroy  the 
old,  but  to  remove  its  corruptions,  and  to  restore  it  to 
its  primitive  purity. 

Hooker  returns  to  the  subject  in  his  fifth  book 
(V.  Ixii.  5),  and  observes  that  Tertullian  was  the  first 
who  denied  the  validity  of  baptism  administered  by 
heretics  (De  Bapt.  c.  15),  and  that  Novatian  was  the 

Y 


322      DOCTRINAL  AND  DISCIPLINARIAN  USES  OF 
CHURCH  HISTORY. 

first  that  publicly  began  to  baptize  again  those  who  had 
been  baptized  by  those  whom  he  regarded  as  unsound 
in  doctrine  and  vicious  in  life  ;  and  that  in  this  respect 
his  principles  were  adopted  by  some  who  were 
strenuously  opposed  to  him  in  other  things,  namely, 
by  S.  Cyprian  and  the  African  Bishops;  and  that  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  (Stephen)  upheld  against  their 
novelties  the  ancient  and  true  Apostolic  custom 
(Euseb.  vii.  3),  till  they  which  unadvisedly  before 
had  erred  (that  is,  the  Bishops  of  Africa  after 
the  time  of  Cyprian)  became  -in  a  manner  all  recon- 
ciled to  the  truth,''  and  saw  that  "  heresy  in  the 
ministers  of  baptism  could  not  evacuate  the  force 
thereof;  such  heresy  alone  excepted  as  by  reason  of 
unsoundness  in  the  highest  articles  of  Christian  Faith 
presumed  to  change  (and  by  changing  to  maim  the 
substance  of)  the  form  of  Baptism.  For  the  baptism 
which  Novatianists  gave  stood  firm,  whereas  they 
whom  Samosatenians  (who  denied  Christ's  Godhead, 
and  consequently  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity)  had 
baptized  were  re-baptized"  (Concil.  Nicaen.  can.  19). 
Thus  then  the  study  of  the  Controversies  of  the 
third  century  had. its  practical  uses  in  the  sixteenth, 
and  it  has  its  uses  for  us  in  the  nineteenth.  And  the 
History  of  the  Church  will  in  this,  as  in  numerous  other 
respects,  be  found  to  be  one  of  our  best  teachers  in 
matters  of  Christian  Doctrine  and  Discipline. 

4  S.  Jerome    contr.    Lucifer,    ad  fin.     S.  Aug.  c.   Crescon.  iii.   2  ; 
Epist.  48. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Ethics  of  CJiristianity  compared  with  those  of 
Heathenism — Lives  of  Christians ;  Influence  of 
Christianity  on  Marriage ;  Slavery ;  Care  of 
Sick  and  Dying ;  Almsgiving;  Ransoming  of 
Captives — illustrated  from  the  life  and  writings 
of  three  ancient  Fathers  of  the  second  and  third 
centuries^  Terttdlian,  Dionysins  of  Alexandria, 
and  S.  Cyprian;  and  by  S.  Lanrence,  Archdeacon 
of  Rome — Acts  and  Martyrdom  of  S.  Cyprian. 

The  principal  arguments  used  by  Christian  Apolo- 
gists on  behalf  of  Christianity  were  derived  from  the 
Prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  especially  in  their 
controversies  with  the  Jews ;  from  our  Lord's 
Miracles  ;  from  the  fulfilment  of  His  own  Prophecies  ; 
from  the  spread  of  Christianity,  in  spite  of  worldly 
opposition.  The  sufferings  and  martyrdoms  of  the 
Christians,  their  patience,  joy,  and  exultation  in  dying 
for  Christ,  in  the  presence  of  many  spectators,  on  the 
cross,  in  the  flames,  and  in  the  arena  of  the  Amphi- 
theatre,— these  were  also  efficacious  in  attracting  the 
attention  of  the  Heathen,  and  of  winning  them  to 
Christianity. 

But  the  operation  of  such  arguments  as  these  was 
only  local  and  transitory. 

There  was  another  evidence  which  was  permanent 
Y   2 


324      EVIDENCE  FOR  CHRISTIANITY,  FROM  THE 
LIVES  OF  CHRISTIANS. 

and  general — the  Lives  of  the  Christians.     It  has  been 

well  observed   by  S.   Chrysostom  ^  that  Christianity 

came  into  the  world  to  wage  war  against  the  Vices  of 

mankind  at  a  time  when  they  were  most  dominant. 

Christianity  did  not  appear  upon  earth  in  the  nobler 

days  of  Greek  heroism,    which    displayed    itself  at 

Marathon,  Salamis,  and   Plataese  ;   nor  in  the  hardier 

times  of  the  Roman  Republic,  prolific  in  such  patriotic 

self-sacrifice  as  that  of  the  Decii  ;  nor  in  the  glorious 

epoch  of  the  Scipios.    But  God  ordered  that  it  should 

wait  till  the  World  had  become  demoralized,  and  was 

desperately  diseased,    so  as  to  be  unable   to  '*  bear 

its  vices  or  their  remedies."     The  heavenly  Physician 

came    into    the    world,  as   it   were,  to    a    "  ward    of 

incurables.'*  - 

The  vices  of  human  Society  were  then  embellished  by 
Poetry,  they  had  become  inveterate  by  time,  were  popu- 
larized by  usage,  and  were  consecrated  by  Religion. 
St.  Paul's  dark  description  of  the  moral  depravity 
of  the  heathen  world  (Rom.  i.  20 — 32)  is  confirmed 
by  the  testimony  of  its  own  historians^  nearly  con- 
temporary with  the  Apostle,  such  as  Tacitus  and 
Suetonius  ;  and  by  its  Poets,  Horace,  Ovid,  Juvenal, 
Persius,  and  Martial. 

We  may  now  turn  to  the  contrast  presented  by 
Christianity. 

A  testimony  to  the  moral  character  of  Christians  is 
given  by  an  impartial  heathen,  Pliny  the  Younger,  in 
his  letter  to  the  Emperor  Trajan.^ 

1  Homilia  in  Titum  iii,  7;  cp.  Cyprian,  Epist.  i. ;  Clemens  Alex. 
Pjedagog.  lib  ii. 

2  "Omne  in  prjecipiti  vitium  stetit,"  and  "Nil  eri  ulterius  quod 
nostris  moribus  addat  Posteritas,"  is  the  expressive  language  of 
Juvenal  (i.  149)  at  the  close  of  the  first  century. 

'  Plin.  X.  97. 


PLINY'S  TESTIMONY  TO  CHRISTIAN  MORALS-  325 
O  THER  TESTIMONIES— MARRIA  GE. 

He  reports  that,  after  careful  investigation,  he  found 
that  the  custom  of  the  Christians  was  in  their  rehgious 
assembhes,  held  before  daybreak,  to  sing  praise  to 
Christ  as  God  ;  to  bind  themselves  by  a  solemn  oath 
to  abstain  from  s\  oUch  as  theft,  robbery,  adultery, 
fraud,  and  untruthfulness. 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  a  heathen. 

The  ancient  Author  of  the  Epistle  to  Diognetus 
(above,  p.  io6 — io8),  Tertullian  in  his  Apology  (above, 
p.  98 — 103),  Minucius  Felix  in  his  Dialogue  (above, 
p.  112),  and  Origen  writing  to  the  heathen  philosopher 
Celsus,  describe  what  their  habits  were   (see   above, 

p.  118). 

Let  us  consider  the  contrast  between  Heathenism 
and  Christianity  in  some  special  respects. 

I .  And  first  as  to  Marriage.  Marriage  is  the  foun- 
tain and  well-spring  of  domestic  and  social  happi- 
ness. When  this  source  is  sulHed  and  polluted, 
streams  of  vice  and  misery  flow  from  it.  The 
Roman  Poet  testifies  this  from  his  own  experience  ; 
•(Horace,  3  Od.  vi.  7) 

"  Foecunda  culpse  Secula  nuptias 
Primum  inquinavere,  et  genus,  et  domos  : 
Hoc  fonte  derivata  clades 
In  patriani  populumque  fluxit." 

According  to  the  Roman  law,  there  could  be  no 
legal  Marriage  (matrimonium  justum)  except  between 
Roman  Citizens.'  Consequently,  for  the  great  multi- 
tude of  Romans,  who,  when  the  Empire  was  extended 
into  all  parts  of  the  habitable  world,  went  forth  as 
colonists,  as  military  and  civil  functionaries,  and  as 
farmers  of  public  revenues,  and  resided  in  foreign 
countries.  Marriage  was  almost  impossible.     Concu- 

4  Adolph  Becker's  Gallus,  Leipzig,  1863,  Pt.  ii.  p.  8. 


326  A  TTEMPTS  OF  JULIUS  AND  A  UGUSTUS  TO  REFORM 
SO  CIE  TY—HORA  CE. 

binage,  harlotry,  and  worse  sins  were  the  results.     The 

offspring  of  the  union  of  the  sexes  was  illegitimate. 

At  Rome,  and  in  Italy  generally,  the  condition  of  the 

lawful  wife  and  matron  was  one  of  degradation;  she 

was  the  vassal  of  her  husband,  and  liable  to  be  cast 

off  by  his  caprice.^ 

Julius  Caesar  and  Augustus  exerted  their  imperial 
power  to  correct  some  of  these  evils  by  Legislation  ;  ^ 
and  Horace  endeavoured  by  his  genius  to  commend 
the  enactments  of  Augustus  to  general  acceptance.^ 

But  what  the  Master  of  the  heathen  World,  aided 
by  all  human  appliances,  endeavoured  in  vain  to  per- 
form, and  it  would  seem  that  the  reign  of  Augustus 
v/as  providentially  prolonged  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing the  vanity  and  impotence  of  Literature  and  Phi- 
losophy and  secular  Legislation  to  regenerate  Society 
— that  was  effected  quietly  and  surely  by  Christianity, 
wherever  it  was  accepted,  at  a  time  when  Vice  was 
at  its  flood. 

The  virtues  and  blessings  of  Home  are  due  to  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  This  is  so  remarkable  a  fact  that 
'it  seems  right  to  dwell  longer  on  the  evidences  of 
it. 

Greece  and  Rome   were  honourably  distinguished 

'  Becker's  Gallus,  ii.  50.  Friedlander,  Sittengeschichte,  p.  463. 
On  the  frequency  of  Divorce  see  the  examples  below,  p.  328. 

^  Cp.  Dean  Merivale's  Rome,  iv.  pp.  40 — 45. 

7  I  do  not  know  whether  the  suspicion  is  well  grounded  that  Horace's 
Ode  (2  Od.  iv.),  "  Ne  sit  ancillce  tibi  amor  pudori,  &c.  Nescias  an  te 
generum  beati  Phyllidos  flavee  decorent  parent es,"  was  written  with  the 
charitable  design  of  making  marriage  possible  between  Roman  citizens  and 
foreigners.  Certainly  such  passages  as  3  Od.  xxiv.  25  ;  4  Od.  v.  21  ;  xv. 
9.  22,  do  great  credit  to  the  poet's  heart,  as  taking  a  serious  and  earnest 
view  of  the  social  vices  of  his  own  age,  and  of  their  possible  remedies  ; 
as  it  has  been  my  endeavour  to  show  elsewhere,  in  "Miscellanies, 
I^iterary  and  Religious,"  vol.  iii.  19  —  28. 


CONDITION  OF  WOMANHOOD  IN  GREECE  AND  A  T  327 
ROME-^DEADLY  SIN. 

from     many — especially    Oriental — nations,    by   not 

encouraging  Polygamy. 

But  Woman  was  never  made  by  them  to  be  a  com- 
panion to  Man,  morally,  intellectually,  and  spiritually, 
even  in  their  best  times.  The  interesting  Dialogue 
of  Socrates  with  Ischomachus/  described  by  Xenophon, 
concerning  the  relation  and  behaviour  of  the  latter 
to  his  newly-married  wife, -shows  that  Marriage  was 
regarded  as  a  useful  institution  for  the  bringing  up 
of  children,  and  for  the  government  of  a  household  of 
slaves,  rather  than  for  any  mutual  comfort  in  conjugal 
union.  The  minds  of  Women  were  left  uncultivated, 
and  they  were  rarely  admitted  into  social  entertain- 
ments. 

There  was,  however,  an  unhappy  exception  to  this. 
The  Aspasias  and  the  Phrynes,  who  were  far  superior 
in  literary  and  artistic  accomplishments  and  attrac- 
tions, took  the  place  that  ought  to  have  been  occu- 
pied by  Greek  matrons  and  their  daughters. 

Another  worse  consequence  ensued.  The  deadly  sin, 
for  which  the  Cities  of  the  plain  had  been  consumed 
by  fire  from  heaven  (Gen.  xix.  Jude  7),  poisoned  the 
vitals  of  Society.  Love  itself  was  not  symbolized  by 
poets  and  orators  and  philosophers,  as  the  bright 
flame  of  pure  affection  kindled  in  the  chaste  hearts 
of  men  and  women,  but  was  represented  as  the  fire 
of  passion  which  the  Apostle  describes  in  his  terrible 
picture  of  heathen  Society  (Rom.  i.  27).^  Scarcely 
any  ancient  author  can  be  mentioned  as  denouncing 
that  deadly  sin.^     It  was  even  lauded  by  Poets  — 

8  Xenophon,  CEconom.  capp.  vii, — x. 

'  Xenoph,  Mem.  viii.  2.  Plat.  Amator.  138.  Lysias,  Apol.  c.  Simon. 
i.  191. 

1  Dollinger,  Heidenthum,  p.  685.  Socrates  was  an  exception,  Xen. 
Mem.  I.  ii.  29,  and  Plato  in  his  later  work,  the  Leges. 


32S      VICE  CONSECRATED— DIVORCE— CONJUGAL     . 
UNFAITHFULNESS. 

notably  in    the    Greek  Anthology,  and  by  romance 

writers   of  the  Erotic    School.      It  was   shamelessly 

practised     by    those     who      called    themselves    the 

Teachers  of  the  World,  such  as  Parmenides,  Xeno- 

crates — even    Aristotle.      It    was    even    consecrated 

by  the  examples   of  gods,^  whom  Greece  and  Rome 

worshipped  in  their  temples. 

These  Vices  assumed  even  a  coarser  form  at  Rome 
than  in  Greece,  where  a  thin  veil  of  spiritual  and 
sesthetical  disguise  had  been  cast  over  them. 

From  the  debasement  and  demoralization  of  Woman- 
hood, trained  in  vice  from  their  early  puberty,^  fol- 
lowed detestation  of  Marriage  by  man  and  woman. 

Divorce,  as  Seneca  and  Tertullian  say,  was  re- 
garded as  "  a  fruit  of  Marriage."  The  most  celebrated 
Romans  put  away  their  wives  for  frivolous  causes, 
^milius  Paulus  divorced  his  wife  without  assigning 
a  reason.  Cicero  divorced  Terentia  because  she  did 
not  show  enough  grief  for  the  loss  of  his  daughter, 
and  married  a  young  and  wealthy  wife  in  her  place. 
The  great  ethical  teacher  of  the  Stoic  School,  Cato, 
put  away  his  first  wife,  by  whom  he  had  two  children, 
and  married  Marcia,  whom  he  afterwards  gave  up  to 
Hortensius.  Pompey  divorced  one  wife  to  marry 
Sylla's  step-daughter,  and  another  to  marry  Caesar's 
daughter.  Augustus  divorced  two  wives,  Clodia  and 
Scribonia.  No  wonder  that  women,  thus  treated  by 
men,  lost  all  natural  affection  for  husbands  and  chil- 
dren. The  consequences  were  that  faithless  wives 
brought    in   supposititious  ■*  children  ;  in  other  cases 

2  Zeus  and  Ganymede,  Poseidon  and  Pelops.  Cp.  Dollinger,  pp.  685 
—690,  718. 

3  Horat.  3  Od.vi.  24.  Friedlander,  Sittengeschichte  Roms  i.  pp.  460 
—466. 

*  Juvenal,  vi.  602. 


INFANTICIDE— FAILURE  OF  LEGISLATION-      329 
CHILDLESSNESS. 

they  resorted    to  abortion  and  infanticide.^     Hence 

we    may   explain  the  words  of  St.  Paul   (i    Tim.  v. 

14),  where  he    commands    women   to  bear  children 

(instead  of  killing  them  in  the  womb)  and  St.  John's 

combination    of  poisoning    with    harlotry    (see    the 

original  words  in  Rev.  ix.  21). 

The  celibacy  and  childlessness  of  the  Romans  were 
remarkable  phenomena,  produced  by  this  absence  of 
conjugal  love.  In  the  time  of  Augustus  the  number 
of  unmarried  male  citizens  greatly  exceeded  that  of 
the  married.^  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Emperor  tried 
to  compel  men  to  marry.  Both  men  and  women  pre- 
ferred the  guilty  liberty  of  single  life.  Among  the 
poets  and  other  writers  of  the  time  of  the  Caesars, 
Virgil  and  Horace  do  not  appear  to  have  had  wives  ; 
and  many  who  had  wives  had  no  children,  as  Ovid, 
Lucan,  Statins,  Silius  Italicus,  Seneca,  both  the 
Plinys,  Suetonius,  and  Tacitus.  Martial  ^  tells  his 
readers  that  when  he  had  gained  the  civil  honour 
accorded  to  those  who  had  three  children,  he  had  put 
away  his  wife.  In  all  the  amatory  poems  of  the 
Caesarean  age  there  is  none  which  celebrates  the 
joys  of  fatherhood  and  motherhood. 

The  childlessness  of  the  Emperors  is  equally 
remarkable.  The  only  instances  of  a  succession  of  a 
son  to  a  father  on  the  imperial  throne  of  Rome,  from 
Julius  Caesar  to  Constantine  (more  than  300  years),  are 
those  of  Titus  and  Domitian  to  Vespasian,  Commodus 
to  Marcus  Aurelius  ;  Caracalla  and  Geta  to  Severus  ; 
and  Gallienus  to  Valerian.  The  Emperors  resorted 
to  adoption  in  order  to  obtain  heirs  for  the  Empire. 

5  See  Minucius  Felix,  Octavius,  c.  30,  31 ;  Tertullian,    Apol.  c.  9  ; 
nd  the  note  in  my  Hippolytus,  p.  95- 

6  Dio  Cassius,  Ivi.  i.  "  Martial,  ii.  91,  92. 


330    JIOIV  CHRISTIANITY  UNDERTOOK  TO  REFORM 
SOCIETY. 

Harlotry  was  hallowed  by  religion  in  temples  and 
festivals  ;  and  the  sin  which  brought  the  divine  wrath 
on  Sodom  paraded  itself  to  the  public  gaze,  not  only 
in  the  Literature  of  the  day, — even  in  Catullus  and 
Horace, — but  in  trains  of  miserable  ''exoleti,"  and  in 
the  camp  of  Julius  Caesar  in  Bithynia,  and  in  the 
imperial  court  of  Tiberius  at  Capreae,  and  at  the  side 
of  Nero  in  his  car  in  the  Circus  Maximus,  and  in  his 
infamous  marriage  with  Sporus,  and  in  the  temple 
dedicated  by  Hadrian  to  Antinous. 

We  turn  with  thankfulness  from  this  description 
of  domestic  Society  in  the  most  celebrated  Nations 
of  the  World,  to  consider  the  means  by  which  Chris- 
tianity undertook  to  reform  and  purify  it. 

Not  by  imperial  edicts  and  legislative  enactments, 
not  by  Literature  and  Science,  but  by  the  quiet  influ- 
ence of  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  The  Eternal 
Son  of  God  had  by  His  Incarnation  sanctified 
Womanhood,  and  consecrated  Marriage  to  be  a  figure 
of  His  own  mystical  union  with  His  Bride  the  Church. 
The  Church  preached  that  doctrine,  and  declared  that 
the  human  Body  becomes,  by  the  Holy  Sacrament  of 
Baptism,  a  member  of  Christ,  and  a  temple  of  God 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  will  be  raised  from  the  grave 
hereafter  ;  and  that,  if  it  has  been  kept  in  purity,  and  if 
when  stained  by  sin  it  is  cleansed  by  repentance,  and 
by  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  offered  on  the  Cross, 
and  received  by  faith  in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  it  will  be 
changed  to  the  likeness  of  Christ's  glorified  Body.  By 
these  doctrines,  and  by  this  preaching,  the  Church 
wrought  a  moral  purification  of  human  Society  ;  and 
invested  the  Love  and  Marriage  of  Man  and  Woman 
with  new  beauty,  dignity,  and  glory,  and  imparted  to 
it  hopes  full  of  immortality.     The  mind  is  filled  with 


A  CHRISTIAN  MARRIAGE  DESCRIBED  BY  TER-     331 
TULLIAN. 

delight,  in  passing  from  the  plaintive  tones  of  Horace, 
describing  the  foul  pollution  of  Marriage  in  his  own 
time,^ — a  few  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ, — and 
from  the  sixth  Satire  of  Juvenal,  displaying  the  de- 
moralization and  debasement  of  Womanhood,  to 
such  passages  as  that  of  the  Christian  father  Tertul- 
lian,  formerly  a  heathen  lawyer,  writing  to  his  wife,^ 
and  describing  a  Christian  Marriage  at  the  end  of  the 
second  century. 

"  What  words  (he  says)  can  I  find  to  express  the 
happiness  of  that  Marriage,  which  the  Church  knits 
together,  and  the  Eucharistic  Oblation  confirms,  and 
a  Benediction  seals  ?  The  Angels  report  it  in 
heaven,  and  their  heavenly  Father  ratifies  it.  How 
happy  is  the  yoke  of  two  faithful  Souls,  joined 
together  by  one  and  the  same  hope,  the  same  dis- 
cipline, the  same  service  !  They  are  children  of  the 
same  Father,  fellow-servants  of  the  same  Master  ;  they 
twain  are  one  flesh,  and  one  spirit.  They  pray 
together;  they  fast  together;  they  admonish  each  other, 
and  exhort  one  another,  and  bear  and  forbear  one 
another.  They  are  together  in  church  ;  they  are 
together  at  the  banquet  of  the  Lord  ;  they  are  toge- 
ther in  distress,  together  in  persecution  and  in  joy. 
There  is  no  concealment  between  them  ;  ^  no  avoid- 
ance of  one  another,  no  irksomeness  of  one  to  the 
other  ;  they  visit  the  sick  together  ;  they  give  alms 
without  mutual   grudging,    and    they  resort    to   the 

8  E.  g.  3  Od.  vi.  21 — 32.     ... 

^  Ad  Uxorem,  lib.  ii.  c.  9. 

1  He  is  contrasting  their  happiness  with  the  vexations  of  other  mar- 
riages ;  either  of  two  heathens  and  unbelievers,  or  of  a  Christian  wife 
joined  to  a  heathen  and  unbelieving  husband  ;  see  ibid.  ii.  5.  The  same 
remarks  might  be  applied  to  some  modern  marriages  of  persons  of 
different  Creeds,  or  of  a  believer  with  an  infidel. 


332  5.  CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDRIA  ON  THE  CHRISTIAN 
HOME. 

Christian   Sacrifice  without  giving    offence    to   each 

other  ;  they  join  together  in  psalms   and  hymns,  and 

their  only  rivalry   is,  who  shall   best    sing  to   God. 

These  things  Christ  sees  and  hears,  and  rejoices,  and 

gives  them  His  peace  ;  where  they  two  are,  He  is,  and 

where  He  is,  the  Evil  One  cannot  come." 

The  heathens  had  their  spousal  ring.^  The  Chris- 
tian holiness  of  Marriage  was  impressed  on  theirs. 
"  Let  our  rings,"  says  S.  Clement  of  Alexandria 
(Psedagog.  p.  289),  "be  a  dove,  a  fish,  or  a  ship  in  full 
sail,  or  an  anchor — not  any  heathen  emblem  or 
symbol." 

After  a  description  of  the  lawless  profligacy  and 
unnatural  licentiousness  and  sensuality  of  heathen 
Society  (Paedagog.  iii.  c.  3,  p.  246),  S.  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  writing  about  the  same  time  as  TertuUian, 
proceeds  to  speak  of  the  Christian's  journey  through 
life,  in  company  with  his  wife  and  children.  "The 
Christian  traveller  does  not  regard  them  as  a  burden  ; 
a  loving  husband  and  a  loving  wife  go  happily  on- 
ward, in  their  earthly  pilgrimage,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Divine  Word.  Frugality  and  sobriety  are  their 
viaticum  ;  their  pilgrim's  staff  is  love,  by  which  they 
travel  together  to  heaven  ;  love  to  one  another,  love 
to  God,  and  love  shown  liberally  to  all  who  need  ;  he 
who  is  rich  in  almsgiving  is  an  inheritor  of  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven."  He  speaks  also  of  the  domestic 
virtues  of  holy  wives,  like  Sarah,  and  of  their  domes- 
tic works  (pp.  283,  293,  303)  ;  and  in  his  Stromata 
(p.  506)  he  says,  "  Marriage  is  to  be  preserved  like  a 
holy  picture,  unsullied  by  anything  that  might  pollute 
it.     Married   persons  ought  to  rise  from   sleep   with 

2  "  Annulus  pronubus,"  Juvenal,  vi.  27.  Plin.  N.  H.  xxxiii.  14. 
Tertull.  Apol.  6. 


SLAVERY.  333 

the  Lord,  and  to  retire  to  rest  with  thanksgiving  and 
prayer,  and  to  bear  witness  to  Christ  in  their  whole 
lives,  with  piety  in  their  hearts,  and  holiness  in  their 
bodies."  And  he  declares  Marriage  to  be  indissoluble, 
except  for  the  cause  of  fornication. 
2.  Let  us  pass  to  another  particular. 
We  hear  of  no  efforts  of  heathens  to  alleviate  the 
miseries  of  Slaveiy,  to  elevate  the  minds  and  purify 
the  hearts  and  reform  the  morals  of  the  many  myriads 
of  Slaves  with  which  the  Roman  Empire  swarmed 
in  the  first  and  second  centuries.  Their  growing 
power  was  sometimes  restrained  by  legalized  murder. 
They  were  sold  without  remorse  ;  ^  they  were  tortured 
and  beaten  and  crucified  without  pity."*  Even  Cicero 
apologizes  to  Atticus  for  being  affected  by  the  death 
of  his  slave.' 

But  the  Christian  Apostle  St.  Paul  calls  a  runaway 
Slave,  Onesimus,  "whom  he  had  begotten  in  his 
bonds,"  "  a  faithful  and  beloved  brother  "  (Philem. 
10.  Col.  iv.  9).  And  why  .?  because  the  Son  of 
God  had  taken  the  nature  of  all  men,  and  had  joined 
them  together  as  fellow-members  of  Himself;  and 
therefore  there  was  no  difference  between  bond  and 
free,  but  all  were  one  in  Him  (Col.  iii.  ii). 

S.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  in  the  second  century, 
shows  that  this  teaching  had  borne  fruit  among 
Christians.  "We  ought,"  he  says  (Paedag.  p.  307), 
"  to  treat  our  Slaves  as  ourselves  ;  they  are  men  as 
we  are  ;  and  there  is  the  same  God  of  bond  and  free  ; 
and  we  ought  not  to  punish  our  brethren  when  they  sin, 
but  to  reprove  them.  Whatever  we  do  to  the  lowest 
and  meanest  of  Christ's  brethren,  we  do  to  Him.''' 

^  Becker's  Gallus,  ii.  102  —  108;  Bollinger,  706 — 712. 

*  Juvenal,  vi.  218;  and  see  Becker's  Gallus,  ii.  139,  145,  153, 

*  Ad  Attic,  i.  12. 


334    CHRISTIAN  REGARD  FOR  SLAVES— CARE  OF  THE 
SICK. 

Ancient  Councils  of  the  Church  passed  Canons 
against  the  ill-treatment  of  Slaves  (Concil.  Elib. 
A.D.  305,  can.  5). 

It  was  believed  in  early  times  that  Onesimus  be- 
came a  Bishop  of  the  Church  ;  ^  and  the  statement  to 
that  effect  seems  to  imply  a  belief  that  a  slave  was 
not  disqualified  from  being  a  Chief  Pastor.  And  we 
have  seen  that  Callistus/  once  a  servant,  was  raised 
to  the  highest  dignity  in  the  principal  Church  in  the 
third  century — that  of  Rome. 

The  martyrdoms  of  slaves,  such  as  the  female  slave 
at  Lyons,  in  the  second  century,  Blandina,  whose 
mistress  sympathized  with  her  (Euseb.  v.  i),  and  of 
Felicitas  (Acta  Martyrum,  p.  93),  and  her  fellow- 
slave  at  Carthage  (about  A.D.  202),  show  that  Chris- 
tianity had  touched  the  hearts  of  slaves,  and  had 
filled  them  with  ardent  love  of  Christ,  Who  had 
freed  them  from  the  bondage  of  sin  into  the  glorious 
liberty  of  children  of  God.  They  prove  that  the 
Gospel  had  penetrated  to  the  depths  of  human 
Society,  and  had  invested  the  Christian  Slave  with 
noble  franchises  and  privileges,  and  had  raised  him 
above  Kings  of  the  earth,  and  had  inspired  him  with 
hopes  full  of  immortality. 

3.  Let  us  consider  also  the  care  of  the  Sick.  No 
record  exists  of  the  erection  of  a  hospital  at  Rome  in 
heatheh  times.  The  first  building  of  the  kind,  says 
S.  Jerome,^  writing  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century, 
was  founded  by  a  noble  Christian  Matron,  Fabiola, 
whose  tender  care  of  the  sick,  and  personal  ministra- 
tions   to    them,    are    described    by  him    in    glowing 

c  Of  Eerrhoea.     Const.  Apost.  vii.  46. 

7  Above, chap.  xxi.  He  is,  however,  not  called  SoDAoy,  but  ot/ce'rTjs. 

^  Epist.  84,  ad  Oceanum,  torn.  iv.  p.  660. 


S.  CYPRIAN  ON  CARE  OF  THE  SICK  IN  TIME  OF    335 
PLAGUE';  AND  ON  ALMSGIVING. 

language.     The  heathen    citizens    of   Rome    carried 

their  diseased  friends   and  relations  to  the  Temple  of 

^sculapius,^  on  the  island  of  the  Tiber,  to  die  there. 

The  Emperor  Julian^  says,  in  a  letter  to  a  heathen 
priest,  Arsacius,  that  it  is  a  shame  that  heathens 
should  be  relieved  by  the  Christians,  and  left  by  their 
own  friends  to  perish  ;  and  he  stimulates  the  heathen 
to  philanthropy  by  a  spirit  of  rivalry  with  Chris- 
tianity. 

S.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage  (whose  error  with 
regard  to  a  difficult  theological  question  which  had 
not  been  fully  discussed  in  his  age  has  been  noticed  in 
a  former  chapter),  presents  himself  here  before  us 
as  a  bright  example  of  Christian  charity,  in  two 
treatises  written  by  him  on  two  moral  duties  of 
Christian  practice  ;  the  care  of  the  sick  and  dying  in 
time  of  pestilence,'  and  on  almsgiving."^ 

We  may  premise  here  some  remarks  as  to  the 
wonderful  change  w^hich  S.  Cyprian  himself  declares 
to  have  been  wrought  in  his  own  character,  and 
whole  moral  being,  by  his  conversion,  in  ripe  man- 
hood, from  heathenism  to  Christianity.  He  had 
been  eminent  as  a  teacher  of  rhetoric  at  Carthage, 
and  had  lived  in  luxury,  honour,  and  power,  and  had 
always  been  attended  in  the  streets  of  Carthage  by 
a  large  retinue  of  clients.     In  an  address  to  a  lay 

9  "T^edio  medendi,"  says  Suetonius,  Claud.  25.  The  Temple  is  de- 
scribed by  Nardini,  Roma  Antica,  iii.  351.  On  which  Casaubon  notes, 
"  Antiquorum  hsec  fuit  diva  humanitas,  ut  et  liberos  liceret  et  servos 
oegrotos  exponere,  taedio  medendi." 

^  Julian  ad  Arsacium  Pontificem,  Epist.  xlix.;  cp.  Fragment  i.  p.  557. 

2  De  Mortalitate,  p.  156,  ed.  Fell,  Amst.  1691.  Routh,  Script.  Eccl. 
p.  276.  Bishop  Fell's  edition  contains  Bishop  Pearson's  Annales 
Cyprianici  (thirteen  years),  pp.  1 — 72. 

3  De  Opere  et  Eleemosynis,  p.  197,  ed.  Fell.  Routh,  Script.  Eccl. 
p.  295. 


336     S.  CYPRIAN  ON  THE  EFFECTS  OF  HIS  OWN  CON- 
VERSION TO  CHRISTIANITY. 

friend,  Donatus,  associated  with  him  by  similar  pur- 
suits, and  who  had  retired  with  him,  at  the  time  of 
vintage,  to  a  peaceful  retreat  in  a  garden  embowered 
with  festoons  of  vines,  and  forming  a  green  arbour 
in  which  they  were  seated,  he  thus  speaks  :  ■* — 

"  After  my  regeneration  by  Baptism,  I  was  trans- 
formed into  another  man.  A  flood  of  light  was 
poured  upon  me.  What  had  been  doubtful  before, 
became  certain  ;  what  had  been  closed  was  opened  ; 
what  had  been  dark  became  clear  ;  what  before  was 
hard  became  easy.  It  was  to  me  a  death  to  vice,  and 
a  birth  to  virtue.  I  am  no  longer  my  own  ;  all  that 
I  have  and  am  now,  belongs  to  God." 

He  draws  a  picture  of  the  heathen  world,  as  in  a 
panorama  (p.  4).  "  Look  around  you,  he  says,  as  from 
the  top  of  a  high  mountain,  and  behold  the  world 
beneath  you  :  the  roads  beset  with  robbers  ;  the 
seas  infested  with  pirates  ;  wars  raging  ;  the  earth 
bristling  with  camps,  and  flowing  with  blood.  One 
death  is  a  homicide,  thousands  are  heroism.^ 

"  Look  now  at  our  cities.  The  gladiatorial  shows 
are  exhibited  there  to  slake  men's  thirst  for  blood. 
Men  are  slain  to  minister  pleasure  to  men.  Parents 
and  sisters  are  spectators  of  the  massacre  of  children 
and  brothers.  Spectators  commit  parricide  with  their 
eyes. 

^  P.  3,  ed.  Fell. 

^  "  Homicidium  cum  admittunt  singuli,  crimen  est;  virtus  vocatur, 
cum  publice  geritur ;" 

"  One  murder  makes  a  villain,  thousands  a  hero," 

has  been  much  admired  as  an  English  verse  ;  but  the  thought,  as  we  here 
see,  had  been  anticipated  by  the  Bishop  of  Carthage  nearly  1500  years 
before  ;  and  perhaps  he  may  have  read  Juvenal's  line, 

*'Ille  cnicem  sceleris  pretium  tulit  ;— hie  diadema"  (xiii.  105), 


CYPRIAN'S  SPECULUM  OF  HEATHEN  SOCIETY  AS  337 
COMPARED  WITH  CHRISTIAN. 

He  then  passes  to  the  vicious  representations  in 
the  theatres,  and  their  influence  on  Society  ;  and  to 
the  consecration  of  sins  of  harlotry  and  adultery  and 
the  grossest  vice,  which  are  taught  by  the  examples 
of  the  gods  and  goddesses  who  are  worshipped  in  the 
temples. 

He  next  draws  a  picture  of  private  life,  and  of  the 
sins  committed  in  the  night  within  closed  doors  ;  and 
describes  a  heathen  family,  and  the  impurity  which 
prevails  there.  He  passes  to  the  Forum  ;  its  mockery 
of  justice,  its  laws,  its  frauds,  its  tortures,  its  prisons, 
the  wickedness  of  the  advocates  who  plead,  and  of  the 
judges  who  preside  there,  and  who  are  guilty  of  the 
sins  for  which  they  condemn  others  to  death. 

He  concludes  by  a  description  of  Christianity,  con- 
trasted with  Heathenism.  There  is,  he  says,  only  one 
sure  and  solid  peace, — to  pass  from  the  storms  of  this 
world  to  the  harbour  of  faith  ;  to  lift  up  our  eyes  from 
earth  to  heaven,  from  men  to  God.  How  joyful  it  is 
to  be  released  from  worldly  snares,  and  emerge  from 
darkness  into  the  pure  light  of  immortality.  The  more 
we  consider  what  we  once  have  been  here,  the  more 
we  love  what  we  shall  be  hereafter.  This  is  not  our 
own  doing.  It  is  the  free  gift  of  God  and  His  grace. 
As  the  Sun  in  the  heaven  shines  freely,  and  a  Foun- 
tain refreshes  us  freely,  and  the  Rain  falls  freely, 
so  the  heavenly  Spirit  infuses  Himself  into  us  freely. 
Now  that  the  soul  looks  up  to  her  Divine  Author, 
she  begins  to  be  what  she  believes  herself  to  be. 
Therefore,  my  friend,  keep  thyself  pure.  Be  con- 
stant in  prayer  and  in  reading  (the  Scriptures  )  ;  speak 
to  God  in  the  one,  and  let  Him  speak  to  thee  in 
the  other.  He  will  enrich  thee  with  divine  wisdom  ; 
and  then  no  one  can  make  thee  poor.     Think  of  thy- 

z 


338        CYPRIAN  ON  THE  LAPSED,  AND  ON  THE 
MARTYRS. 

self  as  the  habitation   of  God.     The   Christian  is  the 

noblest  Mansion.     He  is  a  temple  in  which  the  Holy 

Ghost  deigns  to  dwell.     This  house  will  never  fall  ; 

it  will  exist  for  ever  ;  it  will  be  made  more  glorious 

by  t?ie  resurrection    of  our  bodies  from    the  grave. 

Let  us  therefore,  my  dear  friend,  now,  since  we  are 

here  together  in  a  quiet  place,  and  the  evening  draws 

on,  conclude  our  sober  repast  by  joining  our  voices 

together  in  singing  holy  psalms  and  hymns  to  God. 

But  to  return  to  the  two  treatises  written  by  him 
when  a  Bishop. 

Let  it  also  be  remembered  that  S.  Cyprian  is  an 
impartial  witness  to  the  beneficial  effects  produced  by 
Christianity.  He  does  not  disguise  the  failings  of 
Christians.  He  informs  us  that  many  fell  away  ^  from 
the  faith  in  time  of  persecution.  And  it  was  one  of 
the  most  arduous  and  anxious  cares  of  his  Episco- 
pate so  to  administer  discipline  in  their  case,  as  to 
temper  justice  with  mercy ;  and  not  to  encourage 
faithlessness  on  the  one  side  by  laxity,  and  on  the 
other  side  not  to  drive  any  to  despair  and  reckless- 
ness by  excess  of  severity,  and  thus  give  counte- 
nance to  the  schismatical  and  heretical  rigour  of 
Montanism  and  Novatianism. 

This  difficulty  was  increased  by  the  officious  inter- 
vention of  the  "  Martyrs,^'  as  they  were  called,  who 
had  made  a  good  confession  and  suffered  nobly  in 
the  time  of  persecution,  and  who  were  prevailed  upon 
by  some,  who  had  lapsed,  to  intercede  for  them  that 
they  might  be  restored  to  Church  Communion.  Many 
stood    firm    in    persecution    against   fire  and  faggot, 

^  The  **lapl,'"  ^^ sacrificati"  and  '^ libellaiici,^'  who  had  received  a 
ticket  as  a  certificate  of  having  sacrificed  to  heathen  gods,  and  thus 
escaped  persecution  and  death. 


MORAL  REASONS  FOR  PERSECUTION.  33» 

who  gave  way  to  the  subtler  temptation  of  the  Enemy 
who  fell  from  heaven  by  pride.  So  hard  is  it  for  men 
to  suffer  persecution  for  the  truth,  and  not  to  yield 
to  the  flatteries  of  men  and  of  their  ghostly  foe,  tempt- 
ing them  to  presume  on  their  own  holiness,  and 
break  the  bands  of  Church  discipline  and  order. 

In  his  admirable  Treatise  de  Lapsis  (pp.  121  — 138), 
Cyprian  deals  with  their  case  ;  he  declares  boldly  the 
heinousness  of  the  sin,  and  the  necessity  of  a  long  and 
severe  repentance  for  it,  and  then  comforts  them  by 
God's  promises  of  mercy  to  such  a  repentance  ;  he 
rebukes  the  vain-glorious  presumption  of  the  Martyrs 
in  arrogating  to  themselves  the  office  of  God  and  of 
His  Church,  and  in  giving  a  premium  to  sin. 

In  the  course  of  his  argument,  he  offers  some  wise 
remarks  on  the  providential  reasons  for  the  recent 
persecution  under  Decius. 

"  Why  did  Almighty  God  allow  His  Church  to  be  so 
severely  afflicted  .^  If  (he  replies,  p.  123)  the  cause 
of  this  calamity  is  ascertained,  the  remedy  for  the 
disease  will  be  discovered.  It  was  the  Lord's  will 
that  His  family  should  be  tried,  because  a  long  period 
of  tranquiUity  (from  A.D.  235  toA.D.  250)  had  corrupted 
the  pure  faith  which  we  had  received  from  Him. 
Therefore  chastisement  was  sent  from  heaven  in  mercy, 
to  arouse  our  prostrate  and  slumbering  faith  ;  and 
though  we  then  deserved  to  suffer  more  grievously 
than  we  did  for  our  sins,  the  most  loving  Lord  so 
tempered  the  visitation,  that  it  might  be  called  rather 
a  divine  trial  than  a  human  persecution." 

He  then  proceeds  to  enumerate  the  sins  which,  in 
spite  of  the  doctrines  and  warnings  of  the  Gospel,  had 
crept  into  the  Church,  and  had  corrupted  the  lives  of 
many   of  the    Bishops,    Clergy,   and    Laity.     "The 

z  2 


340  6-   C  YPRIAN  ON  PLA  CUES  AND  MOR  TALITY.    IVHA  T 
DEA  TH  IS— 

Persecution  therefore  was  a  justification  of  God,  and 

a  correction  of  His  people." 

We  may  safely  infer  from  such  statements  as 
these,  and  from  some  other  of  his  writings,"  that  in 
reading  the  works  of  S.  Cyprian  we  have  before  us 
an  unbiassed  testimony  concerning  the  beneficial 
effects  of  Christianity  wherever  it  was  received  and 
maintained,  and  on  the  unhappy  consequences  of 
defections  from  it. 

Speaking  "  of  the  spiritual  uses  of  such  visitations 
as  Plagues  and  Pestilences,  he  says,  "  Let  us  not 
murmur  against  God,  brethren.  He  is  now  trying  us. 
The  faith  and  fear  of  God  ought  to  prepare  us  for 
these  calamities.  Disease,  the  sudden  loss  of  wives, 
children,  and  friends,  ought  not  to  be  stumbling- 
blocks  to  us,  but  occasions  of  victory.  There  can  be  no 
conquest  without  conflict.  The  pilot  is  proved  by  the 
storm  ;  the  soldier  by  the  brunt  of  the  battle.  The 
tree  rooted  in  the  rock  cannot  be  torn  away  by  the 
tempest ;  the  wind  sweeps  the  light  chaff  from  the 
threshing-floor  of  the  Church,  but  the  solid  grain 
remains  upon  it.  How  noble  it  is  to  remain  firm 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  world  !  They  who  have  no 
hope  in  God  lie  prostrate  on  the  ground.  Let  those 
fear  death,  who  have  not  been  born  again  by 
water  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  let  those  fear  death,  who 
are  not  enfranchised  by  Christ's  Cross  and  Passion  ; 
let  those  fear  death,  who  will  pass  through  the  gate 
of  death  to  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  second 
death  (Rev.  xx.  6,  14).     But  to  us  Death  is  freedom 

'  E.  g.  de  Habitu  Virginum,  p.  92,  which  may  also  be  regarded  as  a 
vindication  of  the  Divine  Wisdom,  Justice,  and  Love  in  permitting  the 
heathen  to  persecute  the  Church. 

^  In  his  Treatise  de  Mortahtate;  see  above,  p.  335. 


COMFORT  IN  DEATH  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN.        341 

from  this  world.  The  mortality  by  which  we  are 
now  visited  is  a  pestilence  to  the  enemies  of  Christ, 
but  we  can  interpret  its  true  meaning.  To  us  it  is 
a  healthful  emancipation.  Death  comes  alike  to  all ; 
but  by  death  the  righteous  go  to  be  refreshed,  the 
wicked  pass  to  chastisement. 

"  By  the  fear  of  death  the  lukewarm  are  fired  with 
zeal,  the  careless  are  aroused,  the  deserter  is  brought 
back  to  our  ranks,  the  heathen  are  converted  to  the 
faith,  the  faithful  are  wafted  to  peace  eternal. 

"  The  Pestilence  is  terrible  in  its  aspect,  but  it  has 
a  divine  message  for  us  all.  It  is  sent  by  God  to 
explore  our  hearts,  to  scrutinize  our  lives,  to  try  us 
whether  we  who  are  in  health  succour  those  who  are 
sick  ;  whether  friends  and  relatives  love  one  another  ; 
whether  we  have  mercy  on  the  fainting  servants  of 
the  Lord  ;  whether  physicians  forsake  the  patients 
craving  their  ^  help  ;  whether  the  cruel  become  pitiful, 
and  the  proud  become  humble  ;  and  whether  the  rich 
are  bountiful  to  the  dying.  And  thus  these  Plagues 
are  to  us  not  funerals  of  terror,  but  seminaries  of  virtue. 

"  Our  Christian  friends,  who  are  called  away,  and 
are  released  from  the  prison  of  this  world  by  the 
Lord,  are  not  to  be  lamented  ;  no,  we  know  well  that 
they  are  not  lost,  but  are  sent  before, — *  eos  prceviitti, 
non  amitti  f  we  know  that  they  who  have  receded 
from  us  have  preceded  us, — *  recedentes  pi'cecederel' 
as  those  who  set  forth  on  a  journey,  or  embark  on 
board  ship.    Therefore,  though  we  regret  their  absence, 

5  As  the  heathen  physicians  did  in  time  of  plague  ; 

"  Defessa  jacebant 
•     Corpora,  mussabat  tacito  Medicina  timore," 

says  Lucretius,  vi.  1176;  cp.  Thucyd.  ii.  47,  describing  the  plague  at 
Athens. 


342  YEAJ^NIA'GS  FOR  THE  LIFE  TO  COME. 

we  cannot  weep  for  it ;  we  will-  not  put  on  black 
garments  now  that  they  are  clothed  in  white. 
Remember  St.  Paul's  words,  '  I  would  not,  brethren, 
that  ye  sorrow  for  those  who  are  asleep,  as  the  others 
who  have  no  hope  ;  for  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and 
rose  again^  God  will  bring  with  Him  those  that  sleep 
in  Jesus  '  (i  Thess.  iv.  13).  And  remember  what  our 
Lord  said,  '  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life.  He 
that  believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall 
he  live ;  and  he  that  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me  shall 
not  die  eternally'  (John  xi.  25).  If  we  believe  in 
Christ,  let  us  trust  His  words,  and  let  us  go  forth 
joyfully  from  this  world  to  Him,  in  order  that  we 
may  live  and  reign  with  Him  for  ever.  Who  does 
not  desire  to  pass  to  a  better  state,  and  to  be  changed 
to  the  hkeness  of  Christ?  As  the  Apostle  says, 
'  Our  conversation  is  in  heaven,  whence  we  look  for 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Who  will  change  the  body  of 
our  humiliation  to  be  made  like  to  the  body  of  His 
Glory'  (Phil.  iii.  20).  Here  on  earth  we  are  strangers 
and  foreigners,  our  home  is  beyond  and  above.  Who 
that  is  in  a  foreign  land  does  not  wish  to  go  home .? 
Who,  when  he  is  hastening  to  sail  to  his  friends,  does 
not  pray  for  a  fair  wind  that  he  may  see  them  the 
sooner }  Paradise  is  our  home.  The  Patriarchs  are 
our  friends.  A  large  number  of  dear  ones  are  waiting 
there  for  our  coming  to  them  ;  parents,  brethren, 
children,  who  are  sure  now  of  their  own  immortality, 
and  are  anxious  for  ours.  How  great  will  be  our 
joy,  theirs  and  ours  ;  what  loving  embraces,  when  we 
are  with  them  !  How  sweet  will  be  the  delight  to 
be  without  fear  of  d)qng,  and  to  have  an  eternity 
of  living.  We  shall  then  enjoy  the  highest  ever- 
lasting  felicity.     There  will  be   the    glorious  chorus 


niOiVYSIUS  OF  ALEXANDRIA  ON  A  PESTILENCE.  34,3 

of  Apostles,  the  jubilant  company  of  Prophets,  the 
innumerable  army  of  Martyrs,  bearing  crowns  of 
victory,  won  by  suffering  and  death  ;  Virgins 
triumphing  in  their  conquests  over  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh  ;  merciful  men  rewarded  for  their  works  of  love 
in  feeding  and  succouring  the  poor  ;  good  men  who 
have  parted  with  their  earthly  substance  to  purchase 
a  heavenly  inheritance.  To  them,  dearly  beloved,  let 
us  hasten  ;  let  us  pray  to  be  soon  with  them  and  with 
Christ.  The  more  ardently  we  desire  these  things, 
the  more  richly  shall  we  receive  them  from  Christ 
our  Lord." 

This  treatise  of  S.  Cyprian  may  be  accompanied 
with  a  Paschal  Circular  Letter  of  his  contemporary, 
S.  Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  written  before 
Easter,  probably  in  A.D.  261  (Euseb.  vii.  22). 

It  likewise  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
practical  working  of  Christianity  as  contrasted  with 
Heathenism. 

"  To  the  rest  of  Mankind  the  present  may  not 
seem  a  fit  season  to  keep  a  festival.  Nor  indeed  Is 
the  present  or  any  other  time  which  they  may  con- 
sider most  joyous,  a  season  of  festival  to  them  (i.  e. 
to  the  heathen),  not  only  to  those  among  them  who 
are  very  sad,  but  to  any  of  them,  however  jovial  he 
may  be. 

"  Now,  at  any  rate,  all  things  are  full  of  wailing, 
all  are  mourning,  the  city  resounds  with  groaning,  on 
account  of  the  multitude  of  dead,  and  of  those  who 
are  dying  daily.  As  the  Scripture  says  of  the  first- 
born of  Egypt,  so  now,  there  is  heard  •'  a  great  cry  ' 
(Exod.  xii.  30),  'for  there  is  not  a  house  in  which 
there  is  not  one  dead ;'  and  would  there  were  only 
one. 


344  6-.  DIONYSIUS  ON  THE  PLAGUE  AT  ALEXANDRIA. 

"  Great  and  terrible  were  the  calamities  which  befell 
us  before  this  visitation.  First  the  heathen  drove  us 
away  ;  and  yet  we  were  the  only  persons  who,  though 
we  were  persecuted  and  killed,  kept  festival  ^  even 
then  ;  and  every  place  of  our  affliction,  whether  It 
was  in  the  country,  or  wilderness,  or  on  ship-board, 
or  inn,  or  prison,  became  to  us  a  place  of  joyful 
assembly. 

"And  the  most  joyful  festival  of  all  was  that 
which  was  kept  by  the  Martyrs,  consummated  by 
death,  and  welcomed  to  a  banquet  of  glory. 

"  After  this.  War  and  Famine  visited  us,  which  we 
shared  with  the  heathen  ;  but  we  suffered  alone  the 
evils  which  they  Inflicted  upon  us.  And  yet  we  were 
made  joyful  by  the  Peace  of  Christ,  which  He  gave  to 
us  alone. 

"  When  we  had  experienced  a  very  short  respite, 
this  Pestilence  broke  In  upon  us,  which  caused  a  panic 
more  terrible  than  any  to  them,  and  more  grievous 
than  any  affliction,  and,  as  one  of  their  own  histories 
related,  far  beyond  the  apprehension  of  any  one.  But 
it  was  not  such  to  us,  but  rather  an  extraordinary 
test  and  exercise  (of  our  virtue).  It  did  not  spare  us, 
and  it  violently  assailed  the  heathen. 

"  Most  of  our  brethren,  by  reason  of  their  exceeding 
charity  and  brotherly  love,  took  no  care  of  themselves, 
but  clave  earnestly  to  one  another,  visiting  the  sick 
without  any  defence  to  themselves  ;  and  lovingly 
ministered  to  them,  and  took  care  of  them  In  Christ, 
and  joyfully  died  with  them,  having  caught  the 
infection  from  them  ;  they  attracted  the  disease  from 
others,  and  willingly  absorbed  their  sufferings  into 
themselves.     Many  of  them,  having  nursed  the  sick 

'  It  being  Easter. 


CHRISTIANS  AND  HE  A  THENS  COMPARED.        345 

and  made  them  whole,  died,  having  transferred  to 
themselves  the  death  of  others,  and  fulfilling  in  very 
deed  the  popular  saying  which  seemed  to  have  only 
the  character  of  good  will  (not  of  act),  they  departed 
this  life  as  their  scape-goat  ^  (or  vicarious  piacular 
sacrifice).  The  best  of  our  brethren,  in  good  truth, 
thus  departed  out  of  this  life,  some  of  them  priests 
and  deacons,  others  laymen,  being  greatly  honoured, 
inasmuch  as  this  kind  of  death,  by  reason  of  its  deep 
piety  and  valiant  /aith,  was  nothing  short  of  martyr- 
dom. They  lifted  the  bodies  of  the  saints  on  the 
palms  of  their  hands  and  in  their  bosoms,  and  closed 
their  eyes  and.  mouths,  and  bare  them  on  their 
shoulders,  and  laid  them  out,  and  clasped  and  embraced 
them,  and  washed  them  and  decked  them  with  funeral 
attire  ;  and  soon  afterwards  they  received  the  same 
kind  offices  from  others,  the  survivors  treading  in  the 
steps  of  those  who  had  gone  before  them.     . 

"  The  heathen  behaved  in  a  totally  different  manner. 
They  thrust  out  of  doors  those  who  had  begun  to  fall 
sick ;  and  they  fled  from  their  dearest  friends,  and 
threw  them  down  half  dead  in  the  streets,  and  cast 
the  dead  away  unburied  as  dung,  shrinking  from 
the  interchange  or  communion  of  death  with  them  ; 
which,  however,  it  was  not  easy  for  them  to  escape." 

Such  was  the  language  of  S.  Dionysius.  Let  us 
now  revert  to  S.  Cyprian. 

His  words  in  the  Treatise  quoted  above  were 
not  empty  sounds.  S.  Cyprian  practised  what  he 
preached.  His  deacon  and  biographer,  Pontius,  tells 
us  that  when  he  was  converted  to  Christianity,  he  sold 
his  lands  and  gardens,  and  gave  all  his  goods,  which 

2  7rept»|/7j/io.  Cp.  notes  on  i  Cor.  iv.  13,  and  Bp.  Jacobson  on  Ignat. 
Epist.  ad  Ephes.  c.  8  and  18. 


3-45  S.  CYPRIAN'S  EXAMPLE— TREATISE.  ON 

ALMSGIVING. 

were  considerable,  to  the  poor.^  In  grateful  affection 
to  the  priest  who  converted  him  to  Christianity,  he 
took  his  name,  Csecilius,  and  joined  it  to  his  other 
names,  Thascius  Cyprianus.  Pontius  relates"^  that 
when  a  terrible  Plague  raged,  and  they  who  could, 
took  flight  in  alarm  and  consternation,  and  abandoned 
their  friends  to  death,  and  the  streets  were  full  of  un- 
buried  corpses,  Cyprian  stood  forth  boldly  and  com- 
forted the  people  by  his  preaching  and  his  acts  ;  he 
cheered  them  by  exhortations  from  Holy  Scripture,  and 
by  an  appeal  to  the  example  of  Christ ;  and  ministered 
to  the  Heathen  as  well  as  to  Christians,  and  displayed 
to  all  men  what  the  World  owes  to  Christianity. 

In  passing  to  his  Treatise  on  Almsgiving,^  we  may 
first  observe,  that  of  the  two  leading  Schools  of  Gen- 
tile Philosophy  in  the  earlier  ages  of  Christianity,  the 
one,  the  Stoic,^  by  its  doctrine  of  apathy  discouraged 
mercy  as  a  weakness  ;  the  other,  the  Epicurean,  by 
its  denial  of  divine  providence  and  future  retri- 
bution took  away  the  principal  -motives  to  it.  And 
even  Cicero,  the  Academic,  and  the  most  generous  of 
Roman  philosophers,  had  no  mercy  for  the  unworthy.*^ 

Cyprian  speaks  of  the  virtue  of  Christian  Alms- 
giving— that  is,  of  Almsgiving  in  faith  and  love  to 
Christ,  and  in  dependence  on  His  merits — as  obtain- 
ing God's  favour  and  pardon  for  sin.  He  declares 
the  privilege  and  profit  of  Almsgiving.  "You  fear,"  he 
says,  "  that  your  estate  may  be  impaired  by  it.     But 

^  S.  Cyprian,  Vita,  pp.  2,  3. 

4  Ibid.  p.  5. 

5  De  Opere  et  Eleemosynis,  p.  197,  ed.  Fell. 

^  Cicero  says,  Mura^n.  c.  13,  "  Hujus  (Zenonis)  sententiaest  neminem 
misericordem  esse  nisi  stultum  et  levem."  Tusc.  Quaest.  iii.  10,  *'  Non 
cadit  invidere  in  sapientem,  ergo  ne  misereri  quidem," 

^  Cicero  de  Officiis,  iii.  lo,  15. 


ALMSGIVING— THE  OFFERTORY.  347 

you  yourself  are  impaired,  and  your  estate  is  injured 
by  niggardly  grudging,  by  which  you  are  made  a 
lover  of  mammon  rather  than  of  your  own  soul."  He 
points  to  God's  love  for  His  meanest  creatures,  and  to 
the  duty  of  trust  in  Him.  *'God  feeds  the  fowls  of  the 
air,  and  will  He  not  feed  you  who  are  Christians  and 
dear  to  Christ }  When  you  feed  the  poor,  you  feed 
Christ,  Who  is  Lord  of  all  ; '  and  do  you  imagine  that 
if  you  feed  them,  He  will  not  feed  you } 

"  You  say  you  must  save  your  money.  But  your 
money,  if  saved,  cannot  save  you  :  you  are  a  captive 
of  your  money,  you  are  bound  in  chains  and  fetters 
by  it.  You  were  loved  and  freed  by  Christ,  but  now 
you  are  enslaved  by  yourself.  Why  do  you  add  to 
the  weight  of  your  money  in  order  that  it  may  crush 
you,  and  that  the  richer  you.  are  in  this  world,  the 
poorer  you  may  be  to  God  } " 

He  exhorts  them  to  make  contributions  at  the 
weekly  Offertory  (see  above,  p.  65).  "Thou  art  wealthy 
and  affluent,  and  dost  thou  imagine  it  fit  to  cele- 
brate the  Lord's  Day,^  and  not  to  regard  the  Corban  ; 
to  come  into  the  Church  without  a  sacrifice  (of  praise 
and  offerings).?  Consider  the  example  of  the  poor 
widow  who  cast  in  all  her  living,  and  was  blessed  by 
Christ  (Mark  xii.  42,  43).  Share  your  estate  with 
Christ,  and  He  will  give  you  a  part  in  His  heavenly 
inheritance.  What  you  give  to  God  is  the  only 
wealth  you  will  never  lose.  The  State  cannot  seize 
it  ;  the  Exchequer  cannot  confiscate  it  ;  no  quirk 
of  law  can   filch  it  from  you.     You  bring  a  blessing 

8  P.  203,  "Dominicum  celebrare."  Bishop  Fell  in  his  note  here 
observes  tjiat  Dominiciim  may  signify  any  of  three  things,  viz.,  I.  The 
Lord's  Day.  2.  The  Lord's  House.  3.  The  Supper  of  the  Lord. 
It  may  here  mean  specially  the  last. 


3 18  BLESSIN-GS  OF  ALMSGIVINGS,  LA  URENCE  OF 
ROME. 

on  yourself  and  your  family  by  giving  to  God. 
The  Psalmist,  says  he,  never  saw  the  righteous  for- 
saken, nor  his  seed  begging  their  bread  (Ps.  xxxvii. 
25).  Consider  the  bounty  of  God.  His  sun  shines 
on  all ;  His  breezes  blow  upon  all ;  He  sends  sleep  to 
all,  and  lights  up  the  moon  and  stars  for  all.  You 
are  His  children  ;  imitate  your  Father  in  Heaven. 
Give  to  Christ.  Give  raiment  to  Him  in  His  poor, 
and  He  will  give  you  a  robe  of  heavenly  glory.  Give 
food  to  Him  in  the  hungry,  and  He  will  invite  you  to 
His  heavenly  banquet,  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  (p.  208).  Glorious  is  this  work  of  beneficence 
to  which  you  are  called  ;  it  is  the  comfort  of  believers, 
the  defence  of  our  hope  and  faith,  a  crown  of  peace,  a 
true  and  precious  gift  of  God  ;  needful  for  the  weak, 
glorious  to  the  strong  ;  by  it  we  obtain  spiritual  grace, 
and  win  the  favour  of  Christ,  and  become  creditors  of 
God.  Let  us  run  our  race  in  this  course  gladly  for 
the  palm  of  victory.  Let  us  not  flag  or  be  retarded 
in  it  by  earthly  desires.  If  we  run  with  speed  and 
without  incumbrance,  the  Lord  will  be  our  reward  ; 
He  will  crown  us  as  conquerors  with  a  snow-white 
"wreath  for  works  of  love  in  times  of  the  peace  of  the 
Church,  and  with  a  purple  coronet  for  martyrdom  in 
days  of  persecution." 

S.  Laurence,  Archdeacon  of  Rome,  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom in  the  persecution  under  Valerian,  on  Aug. 
10,  A.D.  258,  in  which  S.  Cyprian  also  glorified  God  ; 
and  he  gave  a  practical  illustration  of  the  truth  of 
S.  Cyprian's  words  on  Christian  Almsgiving. 

The  heathen  Judge  before  whom  S.  Laurence  was 
arraigned,  ordered  him  to  give  up  the  treasures  com- 
mitted to  his  care  as  Archdeacon.  He  informed  the 
Judge  that  it  was  true  that  the  Church  had  great 
treasures,  and  he  promised  to  present  them  to  him  in 


S.  LAURENCE  ON  THE  TREASURES  OF  THE      349 
•  CHURCH- S.   CYPRIAN  ON  CHRISTIAN  CAPTIVES. 

three  days  ;  and  as  those  treasures  were  ponderous,  he 

also  asked  him   to  send  chariots  and  horses  to  carry 

them  away  with  him. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Archdeacon  gathered  toge- 
ther the  poor  who  were  dependent  on  the  alms  of  the 
Church,  and  who  amounted  to  more  than  1500  inA.D. 
251  (Euseb.  vi.  43).  He  put  them  into  the  chariots 
which  had  been  sent  to  him,  and  when  the  Judge 
arrived,  he  pointed  to  them  and  said,  "  See  there  the 
treasures  of  the  Church  !  "  He  was  condemned  to  be 
roasted  alive  on  a  gridiron ;  but  by  God's  mercy  he 
was  not  conscious  of  pain,  and  smiled  in  the  flames.^ 

Another  fruit  of  Christianity  in  producing  sym- 
pathy and  philanthropy  for  the  suffering  was  seen  in 
the  redemption  of  captives. 

S.  Cyprian's  Episcopate  displays  also  an  example 
of  this  beneficent  result.  Some  towns  of  Numidia 
were  harassed  by  incursions  of  barbarians,  who  sacked 
them  and  carried  away  captives  from  them. 

Eight  Bishops  of  those  towns  sent  tidings  to  S. 
Cyprian  of  their  sufferings.  He  says  in  his  reply 
(Epist.  62)  that  he  could  not  read  without  tears  the 
letters  they  had  sent  him,  announcing  the  captivity  of 
his  brethren  and  sisters.  "  In  the  words  of  St.  Paul, 
'  If  one  member  suffer,  the  other  members  suffer  with 
it.  Who  is  weak,  and  I  am  not  weak  V  (2  Cor.  xi.  27.) 
Their  captivity  is  our  captivity.  We  are  all  members 
in  one  body,  and  this  unity  constrains  us  to  endeavour 
to  ransom  them.  Besides,  the  Apostle  says,  '  Know 
ye  not  that  ye  are  the  temple  of  God,  and  the  Spirit 
of  God  dwelleth  in  you  (i  Cor.  iii.  16),  and  as  many 

3  On''  the  circumstances  of  the  Martyrdom  of  S.  Laurence  see 
S.  Ambrose  de  Offic.  i.  41  ;  ii.  38  ;  S.  Aug.  Serm.  302  ;  Homil.  in 
Johann.  27;  S.  Leo,  Serm.  83  ;  and  the  magnificent  hymn  of  Prudentius, 
Peri  Steph.  ii.  p.  307,  Dressel ;  cp.  below,  pp.  382,  383. 


350  MORAL  CHANGE  AV  CYPRIAN'S  LIFE. 

as  have  been  baptizedinto  Christ  have  put  on  Christ  ? ' 
(Gal.  iii.  7.)  Therefore  our  captive  brethren  and 
sisters  are  holy  :  they  belong  to  God.  In  ransoming 
them  we  do  a  work  of  love  to  God.  In  ransoming 
them  we  ransom  Christ  (p.  146).  Such  being  the 
work  to  which  you  invite  us  by  your  letters,  we  give 
you  hearty  thanks  for  making  us  partakers  with  you 
in  your  labour  of  love  to  them,  and  for  offering  to  us 
a  rich  soil  in  which  we  may  sow  the  seeds  of  our  hope, 
and  from  which  we  may  reap  hereafter  a  rich  harvest 
of  blessing.  We  therefore  send  you  an  offering  of 
100,000  Sesterces  (about  781/.),  collected  in  the 
Church  here,  in  which  by  God's  mercy  we  preside. 
And  we  send  you  the  names  of  our  brethren  and 
sisters  who  have  cheerfully  joined  in  this  offering,  in 
order  that  you  may  remember  them  in  your  prayers. 
We  heartily  wish  you  farewell,  dearly  beloved 
brethren  in  the  Lord." 

The  Writer  of  these  two  Treatises,  and  of  this 
Epistle,  had  grown  up  to  man's  estate  in  heathenism  ; 
had  dwelt  long  in  a  luxurious  and  profligate  city, 
Carthage,  such  as  he  himself  describes  it ;  and  had 
enjoyed  the  earthly  pleasures  of  wealth  and  honour. 
He  tells  us  he  had  formerly  lived  a  vicious  life. 

Consequently,  in  reading  what  he  has  there  written, 
we  have  seen  a  specimen  of  the  practical  effects  of 
Christianity,  working  a  moral  change  of  the  whole 
man ;  regenerating  human  Society,  wherever  it  is 
received  ;  and  diffusing  the  blessings  of  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith, 
meekness,  temperance  (Gal.  v.  22).  The  life  and 
writings  of  S.  Cyprian,  compared  with  the  state  of 
public  and  private  life  in  his  age,  which  enjoyed  all 
the  benefits  of  the  influences  of  Philosophy,  Literature, 


WffA T  CAN  SECULARISM  DO ?~CYPRIAN'S        351 
MARTYRDOM. 

and  the  Arts,  and  yet  was  plunged  in  the  lowest 
depths  of  vice  and  misery,  may  be  commended  to 
the  consideration  of  those  who  imagine  that  Society 
can  afford  to  dispense  with  Christianity,  and  to  rely 
on  the  human  Will  and  Reason,  and  on  Secular  cul- 
ture and  instruction.  We  have  seen  what  Heathenism 
was,  before  Christianity ;  but  if  Christian  Nations 
apostatize  from  it,  their  condition  will  be  worse  than 
that  of  heathens, — even  of  Tyre,  and  of  Sodom  itself 
(Matt.  xi.  21  —  24). 

The  writer  of  these  Treatises  sealed  his  testimony 
with  his  blood  in  the  eleventh  year  of  his  Episcopate, 
A.D.  258.  In  answer  to  the  Proconsul  asking  his 
name  and  persuading  him  to  be  wise  and  not  throw 
away  his  life,  he  replied,  "  I  am  Cyprian  ;  I  am  a 
Christian  ;  I  am  a  Bishop  ;  I  know  of  no  gods  but 
One  True  God,  Who  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea, 
and  all  therein.  Him  we  serve  ;  to  Him  we  pray  day 
and  night  for  ourselves  and  for  all  men,  even  for  the. 
Emperors."  And  when  the  Proconsul  pressed  him  to 
sacrifice,  he  said,  "  No,  I  cannot."  "  Be  advised," 
said  the  Proconsul.  "  In  so  good  a  cause  as  ours, 
there  is  no  need  of  further  advice."  When  he  heard 
the  Proconsul's  sentence,  "Let  Cyprian  be  beheaded," 
his  answer  was^  "  God  be  thanked  !  "  He  then  took 
off  his  outer  garment,  gave  a  sum  of  money  to  the 
Executioner,  and  kneeled  down,  and  prayed,  and 
commended  himself  to  God,  and  w^as  beheaded. 

The  historian  of  his  Martyrdom  adds,  that  "  he 
suffered  on  the  i8th  day  before  the  Calends  of 
October  (i.  e.  September  the  14th),  under  the 
Emperors  Valerianus  and  Gallienus  ;  but  in  the  reign 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  Whom  be  honour  and 
glory  for  evermore.     Amen.-" 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Chronological  S^imniary  from  A.D.  i8o  to  Council  of 
Niccea,  A.D.  325 — Persecntions  and  Martyrdoms — 
Benefits  from — Proof  of  Truth  of  Christianity — 
Chris fs  Godhead  —  Inspiration  of  Scripture  — 
Refutation  of  Infidelity  —  Infidel  Writers  — 
Christian  Loyalty — Purification  of  the  Church — 
Power  of  Divine  Grace — Names  of  Martyrs — 
5.  Alb  an. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  begin  this  chapter  with  a 
brief  chronological  summary  from  the  death  of 
Marcus  Aurelius  to  the  Council  of  Nicaea ;  and  then 
to  revert  to  some  of  the  principal  events  in  that 
interval,  and  dilate  more  fully  upon  them. 

Under  the  Emperor  Commodus  (A.D.  180 — 192), 
and  in  the  short  reigns  of  Pertinax  (A.D.  192),  and 
Didius  Julianus,  and  to  the  tenth  year  of  Septimius 
Severus  (A.D.  202),  the  Church  enjoyed  the  blessings 
of  peace  (Euseb.  v.  21). 

In  that  year  a  persecution  broke  out,  which  appears 
to  have  been  general  (Euseb.  vi.  i,  6,  7). 

That  persecution  is  described  by  Tertullian  in  his 
Apology  (Tertullian,  Apol.  c.  12,  30,  37,  50;  Scorp. 
c.  i),  and  probably  by  Minucius  Felix  (Minuc.  Eel. 
pp.  338,  339.  ed.  Ouzel,  1672). 

In  that  persecution  Leonides,  the  father  of  Origen, 
suffered,  when  Origen  was   in  his  seventeenth  year. 


A.D.  211— A. D.  23S.  353 

The  martyrdoms  of  Perpetua  and  F^elicitas  and  their 
companions  belong  to  that  period  ;  and  the  persecu- 
tion appears  to  have  continued  till  the  last  year  of 
Severus,  A.D.  211.^ 

Under  Caracalla,  his  son  (A.D.  211 — 217),  and  under 
Macrinus  (A.D.  217),  and  under  the  sun-worshipper 
and  sensualist  Heliogabalus  (A.D.  218 — 222),  the 
Christians  do  not  appear  to  have  been  molested  by 
public  authority,  unless  we  may  infer"  that  the 
Emperor  was  hostile  to  them,  from  a  saying  of 
Lampridius  in  that  En.peror's  life,  that  Heliogabalus 
desired  "  to  extinguish  all  religions  except  the  worship 
of  himself" 

His  successor,  Alexander  Severus  (A.D.  222 — 235), 
one  of  the  most  estimable  of  Roman  Emperors,  and 
acting  under  the  guidance  of  Mammsea  his  mother, 
the  disciple  of  Origen  when  at  Antioch,  and  with  the 
advice  of  wise  and  learned  counsellors,  such  as  the 
celebrated  jurisconsults  Ulpian  and  Julius  Paullus, 
was '  favourable  to  Christianity.  His  household  is 
said  to  have  contained  many  Christians  (Euseb.  vi.  28). 
He  and  his  mother  were  murdered  by  a  turbulent 
and  rapacious  soldiery  in  his  campaign  on  the  Rhine. 

He  was  succeeded  (A.D.  235)  by  Maximinus  the 
Thracian,  of  barbarian  origin  by  both  parents,  a  fierce 
and  bold  warrior,  and  a  persecutor  of  the  Church. 

In  his  time  Origen  wrote  his  work,  "  The  Exhorta- 
tion to  Martyrdom  ;"  and  Pontianus,  Bishop  of  Rome, 
was  banished  to  Sardinia? 

This  persecution  continued  for  three  years,  till  the 
death  of  Maximinus,  A.D.  238  (Euseb.  vi.  28.  Rufin. 
Hist.  vi.  19).  He  and  his  son  were  slain  by  their 
soldiers. 

1  Ruiiiart,  Acta  Martyrum,  Prcefat.  p.  1. 

A  a 


35i        A.D.  2Z'^—A.D.  2^1— DECIAN  PERSECUTION. 

Under  his  successor  Gordianus  (A.D.  238 — 243), 
and  Phllippus  the  Arabian,  his  colleague  (a.d.  243 — 
249),  the  Christians  were  not  disturbed.  Zonaras 
says  that  Philip  was  a  Christian. 

In  A.D.  246,  Thascius  Cyprianus,  the  teacher  of 
rhetoric  at  Carthage,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of  that 
City,  and  Martyr,  embraced  Christianity. 

Philip  and  his  son  fell  in  battle  at  Verona,  when 
opposing  Decius,  who  was  chosen  Emperor  in  his 
place.  In  his  short  reign  (A.D.  249 — 251)  a  violeijt 
persecution  raged  throughout  the  Roman  Empire 
(Lactant.  de  Mort.  Persecut.  c.  4.  Euseb.  vii.  i. 
S.  Cyprian,  Epist.  10,  ed.  Fell,  p.  12). 

In  the  persecution  under  the  Emperor  Decius,  A.D. 
250,  Fabian,  Bishop  of  Rome,  Alexander,  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem  in  A.D.  251,  and  Babylas,  Bishop  of 
Antioch,  suffered  martyrdom.  Origen  was  put  to 
cruel  torture,  and  never  recovered  from  its  effects. 
His  scholar  Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  was 
marvellously  rescued  from  the  hands  of  the  perse- 
cutors (Euseb.  vi.  40,  and  vii.  1 1),  and  was  preserved 
for  the  good  of  the  Church.  This  was  also  the  case 
with  another  of  Origen's  disciples,  S.  Gregory 
Thaumaturgus,  Bishop  of  Neo-Csesarea ;  and  with 
S.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  both  of  whom  retired 
for  a  time,  and  afterwards  returned  to  their  flocks, 
the  latter  to  suffer  death  under  Valerian. 

In  the  Decian  persecution  the  Bishop  of  Smyrna 
lapsed  frorn  the  faith  ;  but  a  Presbyter  of  Smyrna, 
Pionius,  and  others  with  him,  stood  firm,  and  he  died 
joyfully  for  it,  by  fire,  as  S.  Poly  carp.  Bishop  of 
Smyrna,  had  done  before  him  (Acta  Martyr,  sincera, 

PP-  139—151)- 

Maximus    was    first    put    to    the    rack,   and    thfen 


A.D.  2SI—A.D.  284.  355 

Stoned  to  death  (ibid.  pp.  155-^157).  A  little  before 
his  martyrdom^  he  said  to  the  Proconsul,  "  If  I  refuse 
to  sacrifice  to  your  gods,  I  shall  save  my  life  (for 
eternity);  if  I  consent  to  sacrifice  to  them,  I  shall  lose  it 
(for  ever).  Neither  your  wooden  clubs,  nor  sharp  iron, 
nor  fire,  will  cause  me  any  pain,  because  the  grace 
of  Christ  abides  in  me,  and  will  save  me  eternally." 

The  persecution  did  not  altogether  cease  under 
Gallus  (A.D.  251 — 253.  Euseb.  vii.  I.  S.  Cyprian, 
Epist.  59,  p.  127).  He  was  succeeded  by  Valerian 
(a.D.  253 — 261),  under  whom  it  broke  out  with 
redoubled  fury  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign  (a.D.  257). 

Among  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  sufferers  in  it 
were  S.  Xystus,  Bishop  of  Rome  (Aug.  6)  ;  his  deacon, 
S.  Laurence  (Aug.  10)  ;  probably  S.  Hippolytus, 
Bishop  of  Portus  Rorpanus  (Aug.  13)  ;  and  S.  Cyprian, 
Bishop  of  Carthage  (Sept.  14). 

The  son  and  successor  of  Valerian,  Gallienus, 
restored  peace  to  the  Church  (A.D.  261),  which  con- 
tinued under  his  successor  Claudius  (A.D.  268 — 270). 
Consequently  the  Bishops  of  the  East  were  enabled 
to  hold  in  their  reigns  two  Councils  of  Antioch  (A.D. 
264,  269),  in  which  Paul  of  Samosata,  Bishop  of 
Antioch,  was  condemned  and  deposed. 

With  some  fitful  outbreaks  of  persecution,  the  peace 
continued  under  Aurelian  (A.D.  270 — 275.  Euseb.  vii.  30. 
Lactant,  de  Mort.  Pers.  c.  6),  and  under  Tacitus  (A.D. 
275),andProbus(A.D.276 — 282),andCarus  (282— 284). 

The  following  is  a  brief  summary  of  events  in  the 
•period  from  the  accession  of  Diocletian,  A.D.  284,  to 
the  Council  of  Nicaea,  A.D.  325. 

A.D. 

284.  Diocletian    (Covins),    Emperor.      The   "  Era   of 
Diocletian,  or  of  Martyrs  "  dates  from  this  year. 
A  a  2 


356  EDICT  FOR  A  GENERAL  PERSECUTION. 


285.  Diocletian  associates  with  himself  in  the  Empire 
for  the  West  Maximianus  {Herculius). 

293.  Constantine  had  married  Minervina  before  this 
year. 

292.  Constantius  Chlorus  (father  of  Constantine)  and 
Galerius  are  declared  Ccesars.  Both  are 
ordered  to  divorce  their  wives.  Constantius 
puts  away  Helena  (mother  of  Constantine),  and 
marries  Theodora,  step-daughter  of  Maxi- 
mian,  and  is  Caesar  of  the  West. 

Galerius  marries  Valeria,  daughter  of 
Diocletian,  and  is  Caesar  in  Illyricum. 

297.  Galerius  conquers  the  Persians  under  Narses. 

303.  Diocletian  and  Galerius  publish  at  Nicomedia, 
the  royal  capital,  in  Bithynia,  Feb.  23,  an  Edict 
for  the  Persecution  .of  the  Christians,  which 
rages  throughout  the  Empire,  except  where 
Constantius  mitigates  it.  Constantine  was 
then  at  Nicomedia  ;  and  was  there  in  B.C.  305 
at  the  abdication  of  Diocletian. 

305.  Diocletian  having  suffered  from  severe  sickness 

for  more  than  a  year,  abdicates  (March  i)  at 
Nicomedia.  Maximian  also  reluctantly  abdi- 
cates at  Milan. 

Galerius  and  Constantius  become  Augusti, 
or  Emperors. 

Severus  and  Maximinus  become  Ccesars. 
Comparative  peace. 

Council  of  Eliberis  (or  Elvira  in  Spain — 
Granada). 

306.  Constantius,  the  father  of  Constantine,  dies   at 

York,  July  25. 

Constantine  becomes  Ccesar  against  the  will 
of  Galerius. 


EDICT  OF  TOLERATION'— CONSTANTINE' S  VISION.   357 


Maxentius,  son  of  Maximian,  is  made  an 
Augustus  by  the  praetorian  soldiers  at  Rome, 
Oct.  27.  Maximian,  his  father,  emerges  frorti 
his  retirement  and  helps  him. 

Constantine  favours  the  Christians. 
307.   Constantine  marries  Fausta,  daughter  of  Maxi- 
mian, and  sister  of  Maxentius. 

Severus  is  declared  an  Attgustics  by  Gale- 
rius  ;  is  deserted  by  his  soldiers,  and  dies  at 
Ravenna. 

Licinius  is  declared  byGalerius  an  Augustus 
in  his  place. 

Constantine  assumes  the  title  oi  Augustus. 

Maximinus  (the  enemy  of  Christianity) 
assumes  the  title  of  Augustus  in  the  East. 

310.  Maximian,  convicted  of  treachery  against  Con- 

stantine his  son-in-law,  dies  at  Marseilles. 

311.  Galerius  having  in  remorse  issued  an   Edict  of 

Toleration  of  the  Christians  (April  30),  dies  in 
the  month  of  May. 

Maxentius,  the  persecutor  of  the  Church, 
subdues  Africa  by  his  generals. 

312.  Edict  of  Toleration   of  Christians   published  at 

Milan  by  Constantine  and  Licinius. 

Constantine  marches  toward  Rome,  and 
against  Maxentius,  Oct.  26. 

Constantine  s  Vision  of  the  Cross.  There  are 
two  contemporary  accounts  of  this  : — 
I.  Lactantius  (tutor  of  Crispus,  the  son  of  Con- 
stantine) says,  that  in  the  night  before  the  battle  with 
Maxentius,  "  Constantine  was  warned  in  a  dream  to 
imprint  the  heavenly  sign  of  God  on  the  shields  (of 
his  soldiers),  and  so  join  battle  (with  the  enemy).  He 
did  as  he  was  bidden,  he  imprinted  Christ  on  th'eir 


358  CONSTANTINE'S  VISION. 

shields  with  the  transverse  letter  X,  the  head  of  it 
being  rounded  off  (P).  His  army,  being  fortified  with 
this  sign,  took  up  their  swords  and  encountered  the 
enemy"  (Lactantius  de  Mortibus  Persecutorum,  c.  44, 
tom.  ii.  239,  ed.  Paris.  1738). 

2.  The  other  account  is  by  Eusebius,  in  his  Life  of 
Constantine  (i.  28 — 31),  in  which  he  says  that  Con- 
stantine,  having  resolved  to  liberate  Rome  from  the 
tyranny  of  Maxentius,  and  having  meditated  on  the 
unhappiness  of  those  who  worshipped  a  multitude  of 
idols,  as  contrasted  with  the  good  fortune  of  his  own 
father  Constantius,  who  had  favoured  Christianity, 
resolved  to  worship  the  One  True  God  ;  and  while  he 
was  engaged  in  prayer  to  God  that  He  would  reveal 
Himself  to  him,  and  stretch  forth  His  right  hand  to 
succour  him,  he  had  a  vision  after  midday,  when  the 
sun  was  declining,  and  saw  the  trophy  of  the  Cross  in 
the  heavens,  in  a  luminous  form  over  the  sun,  and  an 
inscription  annexed  to  it,  tovtw  viKa'^  {by  this  conquer), 
and  that  at  the  sight  of  it  he  and  all  his  forces  were 
astounded,  who  were  spectators  of  the  miracle. 

Eusebius  adds  that  in  the  following  night,  when 
Constantine  was  asleep,  Christ  appeared  to  him  with 
that  sign,  which  had  been  displayed  to  him  in  the 
heavens,  and  commanded  him  to  make  a  standard  ac- 
cording to  the  pattern  of  what  he  had  seen,  and  to 
use  it  as  a  defence  against  his  enemies  ;  and  that  as 
soon  as  it  was  day  Constantine  called  together  the 

2  It  has  been  objected  (by  Dean  Milman  and  others)  that  it  is  incre- 
dible that  a  warlike  motto  on  the  Cross,  converted  into  a  military- 
standard,  should  be  suggested  by  Him  Who  is  Prince  of  Peace.  But 
He  Who  is  Prince  of  Peace,  is  also  the  Lord  of  Hosts  ;  and- Christ 
is  revealed  not  only  in  the  Psalms  (Ps.  xlv.  -3 — 5),  but  also  in  the 
Apocalypse,  as  a  Mighty  Warrior  going  forth  vikuv  koX  'Iva  vikvctti,  Rev. 
vi.  2,  and  see  Rev.  xix.  ii. 


THE  LAB  ARUM.  359 

workers  In  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  ordered  them 
to  fashion  it  accordingly. 

Eusebius  then  gives  a  description  of  the  Standard, 
which,  he  says,  "  the  Romans  now  call  labarum  ;"  ^  it 
was  a  spear  overlaid  with  gold,  and  a  piece  like  a  sail- 
yard  laid  across  it— being  a  purple  cloth  inlaid  with 
precious  stones — so  as  to  form  a  Cross  ;  above  it  was 
a  crown  of  precious  stones  and  gold  ;  in  this  crown 
were  the  two  letters  XP,  representing  the  Name  of 
Christ,  the  letter  P  being  cut  through  in  its  midst. 

Eusebius  states  that  Constantine,  a  long  time  after 
the  event,  affirmed  with  an  oath  (c.  28)  the  truth  of 
what  the  historian  himself  has  set  down  in  his  narra- 
tive ;  and  that  after  this  vision  the  Emperor,  being 
much  impressed  by  it,  sent  for  some  Christian  Bishops, 
and  inquired  of  them  Who  the  God  was  Whom  he  had 
seen,  and  what  the  vision  of  that  sign  (the  Cross) 
meant,  and  they  instructed  him  in  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  ;  and  that,  being  so  strengthened  by  their 
discourses,  he  went  forth  against  Maxentius. 

There  is,  doubtless,  some  foundation  of  truth  in 
this  narrative.  Whether  it  may  have  received  any— 
and  if  so,  ^c;/^^^— embellishment  from  the  Emperor,  or 
from  the  historian,  it  is  now  impossible  to  say.  The 
conversion  of  the  most  powerful  Empire  in  the  World 

3  The  origin  of  the  word  Labartim  is  uncertain  (Archbp.  Trench,  On 
Words,  p.  228);  but  it  had  a  general  meaning  before  it  was  appropriated 
as  a  Christian  symbol.  As  Bishop  Pearson  says  (in  one  of  his  Academic 
Preelections,  p.  427,  ed.  Churton),  "  Constantinus  assuetum  victorise 
Labarum  in  Crticem  efformavit."  It  signified  any  upright  pole,  spar, 
or  spear  (palus,  or  hasta).  Du  Cange,  Glossar.  p.  190,  thinks  it  to  be 
a  barbarous  word  derived  from  some  ancient  Teutonic  tribe.  May  it 
not  perhaps  be  connected  with  ^r^^^r,  sometimes  used  iox  ?i  Mast  {Albero 
Ital. ,  French  arborer,  to  hoist  a  standard)  ?  The  letters  r  and  /  are  often 
interchanged,  and  a  metathesis  of  letters  is  common:  as  ixopcp)]  became 
forma;  yivp^-t]^,  formica, ;  (Tcf)^^,  vespa;  '^pirw,  repo ;  o/)7ra|,  rapax ; 
apnaCco,  rapio,  &C. 


360  CONSTANTINE  AND  CYRUS. 

from  Heathenism  to  Christianity  was  one  of  the 
greatest  events  that  ever  occurred  in  the  history  of 
Mankind,  and  it  does  not  seem  improbable  that  the 
Divine  Ruler  of  the  World,  Who  had  pre-announced 
by  name,  more  than  a  century  before  his  birth,  "  Cyrus, 
His  shepherd  and  -His  anointed,"  the  conqueror  of 
heathen  Babylon,  and  the  deliverer  of  His  people 
(Isa.  xliv.  28  ;  xlv.  i),  should  have  intervened  to  give 
a  revelation  of  Himself  and  of  His  Will  to  Constantine, 
His  chosen  instrument  for  working  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  changes  in  the  world's  history,  for  the 
overthrow  of  Heathenism,  for  the  declaration  of  His 
Truth,  and  for  the  deliverance  of  His  Church.'' 

A.D. 

312.  October  27th.     The  troops  of  Maxentius  were 

defeated  by  Constantlne  at  the  Saxa  rubra,  near 
Cremona,  and  Maxentius  himself  in  his  flight, 
while  crossing  the  Milvian  Bridge  (now  Ponte 
Molle)  near  Rome,  was  drowned  In  the  river 
Tiber.  Constantlne  enters  Rome  in  triumph. 
Triumphal  Arch  of  Constantlne  at  Rome 
.  (still standing).  ConstantinesoleEmperorofthe 
West  (aged  about  thirty-eight).  His  edicts  fa- 
vourable to  Christianity.  Th.Q  Indictiojis  (a  cycle 
of  fifteen  years)  date  from  this  year  (Sept.  ist). 

313.  Constantlne  goes  from  Rome  to  meet  Licinius, 

who  marries  Constantia,  the  sister  of  Con- 
stantine,  at  Milan.  Laws  favourable  to  Chris- 
tians :    immunity  from  civil  offices.     Licinius 

^  On  the  narrative  and  various  elements  in  the  chai-acter  and  policy 
of  Constantlne,  see  Neander,  iii.  pp.  7 — 37,  and  Canon  Wordsworth's 
Article  on  Constantine  in  Professor  Wace's  Dictionary  of  Christian 
Biography,  pp.  632 — 649,  and  Heinichen's  Meletemata  xxiv.  in  his 
edition  of  Eusebius,  A.D,  1870,  pp.  758  -780. 


EDICT  OF  TOLERA  TIOiV.  361 


favourable  to  the  Christians.  Edict  of  full 
toleration  at  Milan.  Licinius  pursues  Maxi- 
minus  (who  had  been  induced  also  to  issue 
an  edict  of  toleration.  Eusebius,  H.  E.  ix.  9). 
Licinius  has  a  dream  which  leads  him  to  pray 
to  the  One  True  God  for  protection  (Lactant. 
de  Mort.  Persecut.  c.  xlvi.)  ;  defeats  Maximinus 
at  Heraclea  (30th  April),  who  dies  at  Tarsus. 
Licinius  sole  Emperor  in  the  East. 

314.  In  this  time  of  peace  three  Councils  are  held. 
Council  of  Aries  (ist  August)  in  Gaul  sum- 
moned by  Constantine. 

Council  of  Ancyra  in  Galatia. 
Council  of  Neo-Caesarea  in  Pontus. 

315  (November  i6th).  Severe  Law  against  Jews  molest- 
ing those  who  were  converts  to  Christianity. 

316.  Constantine  at  Milan  (in  November)  decides  in 

favour  of  Caecilian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  against 
the  Donatists.  Abolishes  the  punishment 
of  crucifixion.  Augments  the  privileges  of 
Churches.  Allows  reference  of  causes  to 
Bishops  in  lieu  of  temporal  Courts. 
7th  June.  Law  for  facilitating  emancipation  of 
slaves  in  presence  of  a  Bishop  in  a  Church, 
and  for  enabling  the  Clergy  to  emancipate 
their  slaves.  Diocletian  (the  ex-Emperor)  dies 
at  Salona,  Dec.  3rd. 

317.  Crispus,  the  son  of  Constantine  (by  Minervina, 

now  dead),  and  Constantinus  his  brother  (a 
child)  are  declared  Ccesars.  Lactantius,  the 
Christian  Philosopher  and  Rhetorician,  Tutor 
of  Crispus.  Licinius  (a  boy),  son  of  Licinius, 
also  declared  Ccesar. 


362  A.D.  T,2i  ~A. D.  Z2S—RECA PITULA  TION. 

A.D. 

321.  Law  for   the    observance   of  the  Lord's    Day: 

field  labour  allowed. 

Law  for  observance  of  Friday.  Christian 
Churches  and  Councils  permitted  to  receive 
legacies.     Penalties  on  celibacy  abolished. 

322.  Helena,  mother  of  Constantine,  and  Crispus  his 

son,  at  Rome. 
323  (July  3rd).  Licinius  (who  had  prepared  for  battle 
with  sacrifices  to  the  gods)  defeated  by  Con- 
stantine, who  prepared  for  it  by  prayer,  and 
gave  as  the  watchword  0eo?  acorrjp  at  Adriano- 
ple  ;  and  Licinius  is  besieged  at  Byzantium 
by  Crispus,  and  his  fleet  destroyed. 

324.  Constantine,    at   Thessalonica,   sole    Emperor, 

orders  Licinius  to  be  put  to  death. 

325.  A  Law  enacted  to  prohibit  Gladiators.     Also 

to  forbid  any  further  erection  of  heathen 
temples  or  altars.  Constantine  issues  letters 
to  Bishops,  in  which  he  encourages  them  to 
rebuild  Churches,  and  to  build  new  ones,  and 
orders  civil  governors  to  assist  them ;  and 
exhorts  all  his  subjects  to  desist  from  idolatry 
(Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  ii.  45,  47). 

First  General  Council  of  the  Church  at 
NlC^A  in  Bithynia,  in  June. 

Let  us  now  revert  to  the  commencement  of  the 
reign  of  Diocletian,  and  dwell  more  at  length  on 
the  principal  events  between  that  date  and  the  Council 
of  Nicasa.     In  the  first  nineteen  years  of  Diocletian  ^ 

^  The  name  of  Diocletian  being  afterwards  identified  with  the  perse- 
cutions of  the  Church,  the  ^^  Era  of  Martyrs"  or  "of  Diocletian" 
dates  from  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  A.D.  284.     It  was  generally  used 


PERSECUTION  UNDER  DIOCLETIAN.  363 

(a.D.  284 — 305)  the  Church  enjoyed  quietness,  and 
made  great  progress  in  the  building  of  Churches,  and 
in  the  diffusion  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  greatly 
increased  "in  the  number  of  believers.  Many  mem- 
bers of  noble  families  declared  themselves  Christians 
(Euseb.  viii.  i). 

But  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  reign,  Diocletian, 
after  long  deliberation,  was  instigated  and  prevailed 
on  by  Galerius  Maximianus  (one  of  the  Caesars),  act- 
ing under  the  influence  of  his  mother,^  who  sacrificed 
daily  to  the  deities  of  heathenism,  to  publish  an  edict 
at  Nicomedia,  A.D.  303,  'for  the  extermination  of 
Christianity. 

After  an  inquiry  as  to  the  day  which  would  be  pro- 
pitious for  its  execution,  the  Roman  festival  of  Ter- 
minalia,  Feb.  23rd,  A.D.  303,  was  fixed  upon,  "ut 
quasi  tcnnimis  imponeretur  huic  religioni."  '' 

This  edict  was  ordered  to  be  promulgated  in  all 
provinces  of  the  Empire  (Lactant.  de  Mort.  Pers. 
c.  II  and  16.  Euseb.  viii.  c.  2  and  4),  and  the 
persecution  was  enforced  by  Maximianus  and  Gale- 
rius (Lactant.  ibid.  c.  19,  21  ;  de  Institut.  v.  9  and  11. 
Euseb.  viii.  14). 

This  persecution  raged  in  the  Eastern  portion  of  the 
Empire  till  the  death  of  Maximinus,  A.D.  313,  having 

by  Christians  till  the  introduction  of  the  Christian  era  in  the  sixth 
century. 

6  ' '  Mater  ejus  deorum  montium  cultrix,  mulier  admodum  superstitiosa ; 
dapibus  sacrificabat  pene  quotidie,  ac  vicariis  suis  epulas  exhibebat ; 
Christiani  abstinebant  :  hinc  concepit  odium  adversus  eos,  et  filium 
suum  non  minus  superstitiosum  ad  tollendos  homines  incitavit."  Lactan- 
tius  de  Mortibus  Persecutorum,  c.  11,  where  is  a  description  of  the 
deliberation  with  Diocletian. 

7  Lactant.  ibid.  c.  12.  For  a  fuller  description  of  the  persecution,  see 
ibid.  capp.  16—24,  and  the  work  of  the  Rev.  Arthur  James  Mason, 
Canon  of  Truro,  on  this  subject. 


364     RE  TR OSPE CT  AND  REFLE C TIONS—  CHRIS TS 
GODHEAD— INSPIRA  TION  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

continued  for  ten  years   in  those  regions.     The  West 

was  more   fortunate,  especially  after  the  partition  of 

the  Empire  in   A.D.  305,  when   Diocletian  abdicated, 

and   Constantius   was    declared    a   colleague    in    the 

Empire,  and  after  him  Constantine  his  son,  A.D.  306. 

We  may  now  pause  and  consider  some  general  con- 
clusions which  may  be  derived  from  a  retrospect  of 
the  historical  records  of  the  martyrdoms  of  that 
period. 

First  as  to  Christian  doctrine. 

1.  Among  the  Articles  of  the  Christian  Faith  which 
these  records  attest,  the  Godhead  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
conspicuous.  The  Martyrs  sang  praises  and  offered 
prayers  to  Him  in  the  hour  of  death  (Acta  Martyrum 
sincera,  pp.  164,  168).  In  explicit  terms  Sapricius,  a 
martyr  at  Antioch,  A.D.  260  (ibid.  p.  241),  said  to  the 
heathen  Governor,  "  We  Christians  have  Christ  for  our 
King.  He  is  the  true  God^  and  Creator  of  heaven  and 
earth,  and  the  sea  and  all  therein." 

Felix,  Bishop  of  Rome  (who  was  martyred  circ. 
A.D.  270),  said,  "  We  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  born  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  that  He  is  the  Eternal  Son  of  God, 
not  a  man  assumed  by  God,  so  as  to  be  distinct  from 
Him,  but  perfect  God,  made  to  be  also  perfect 
Man." « 

2.  Another  important  article  of  Christian  doctrine 
was  displayed  by  means  of  Persecution  ;  the  doctrine 
of  the  Inspiration  of  Holy  Scripture. 

The  Scillitane  Martyrs  near  Carthage,  A.D.  200, 
were  questioned  as  to  the  Books  which  they  venerated, 
or  as  the  Original   has   it,  which   they  adored  (Acta, 

^  Acta,  p.  248  ;  cp.  ibid.  p.  277,  "Christum  Deum  esse  credimus." 


INSPIRATION  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE— TRADITORS.  365 

p.  '^j)  ;  and  their  reply  was,  "  The  Four  Gospels,  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul  the  Apostle,  and  the  whole  of 
divinely  inspired  Scripture."  Thus  the  assaults  of  the 
Enemy  against  the  Truth  were  overruled  for  its  clearer 
manifestation. 

This  was  exemplified  also  in  the  history  of  the 
Traditores,  as  they  were  called. 

In  the  days  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  rage  of 
the  Enemy  against  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  was 
controlled  so  as  to  declare  what  was  Scripture,  and  to 
authenticate  its  divine  origin.  "  When  the  heathen  had 
rent  in  pieces  the  Books  of  the  Lazu^  they  burnt  them 
with  fire  ;  and  whosoever  was  found  with  any  Book  of 
the  Testament,  the  king's  commandment  was  that  he 
should  be  put  to  death"  (i  Mace.  i.  54). 

So  it  was  also  in  the  persecutions  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

The  Enemy  endeavoured  to  conipel  the  Christians 
to  surrender  their  copies  of  the  Scriptures  of  the  New 
Testament  as  well  as  the  Old,  in  order  that  they 
might  be  burnt  (Euseb.  viii.  2).  They,  who  complied 
with  that  order  and  gave  them  up,  were  called  Tradi- 
iores.  The  eagerness  of*  the  heathen  to  destroy  the 
divine  books  ("  libros  deificos"  as  they  were  called  ^), 
and  the  indignation  of  the  faithful  against  the 
treachery  of  those  who  betrayed  those  Books,  pro- 
claimed the  sanctity  of  those  Books,  and  were  prac- 
tical attestations  to  the  Canon  of  Holy  Scripture. 
It  was  notorious  even  to  the  Heathen  that  certain 
clearly  defined  Books  were  revered  by  the  Christians, 
and  that  in  them  their  religion  was  contained. 

3.  The  Persecutions  of  the  Church  were  also  made 

^  Passio  S.  Felicis  in  Baluzii  Misc.  ii.  p.  77.  S.  Aug.  Brevic.  Col- 
iat.  c.  Donat.  xv.  17. 


366   EVIL  OVERRULED  FOR  GOOD-INFLDEL  WRLTERS 
—PORPHYRY. 

ministerial  in  another  remarkable  manner  to  the 
clearer  manifestation  and  stronger  confirmation  of 
the  Truth  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  even  by 
means  of  the  attacks  which  were  directed  against  it. 

These  Persecutions  encouraged  assaults  upon  her 
from  Infidel  writers  ;  and  those  assaults  recoiled  on 
their  authors,  and  redounded  to  her  benefit,  and  to 
the  divine  glory. 

The  most  eminent  of  these  infidel  writers  was 
Porphyry,  probably  a  native  of  Tyre,  and  called  also 
Malcho^  or  King,  and  in  Greek  Basileus.  His  character 
and  acts  have  a  special  interest,  as  foreshadowing 
some  elements  and  phases  of  that  form  of  Anti- 
christianism  which  may  be  expected  to  display  itself 
in  thelatterdays,  especially  in  intellectual  and  literary 
society.  He  was  a  scholar  of  Plotinus,  who  blended 
Platonism  with  Pythagoreanism,  and  with  some  tenets 
derived  from  the  Stoics  and  Epicureans.  Porphyry 
had  been  formerly  a  disciple  also  of  the  celebrated 
Longinus,  the  author  of  the  Treatise  "  on  the 
Sublime."  Porphyry  came  to  Rome  A.D.  262,  and 
when  thirty  years  of  age  became  a  disciple  of  Plotinus, 
who  resided  there  for  twenty-six  years. 

S.  Augustine  (de  Civitate  Dei,  x.  32)  states  that 
Porphyry  lived  at  a  time  "  when  the  Christian  religion 
was  allowed  by  God  to  be  attacked  by  worshippers 
of  idols  and  demons,  and  by  the  kings  of  this  world 
(Diocletian  and  Maximian),  in  order  to  the  manifesta- 
tion and  consecration  of  a  number  of  Martyrs,  that  is, 
of  witnesses  to  the  truth  ;  by  means  of  whom  it 
might  be  shown  that  all  bodily  ills  are  to  be  endured 
for  the  faith  of  true  religion,  and  for  the  commenda- 
tion of  the  truth.  Porphyry  was  an  observer  of 
these  events,  and  he  supposed  that  Christianity  must 


PORPHYR\.  367 

soon  perish  under  those  persecutions,  and  that  it 
therefore  could  not  be  the  true  method  of  liberating 
the  soul  (from  its  thraldom)  ;  not  perceiving  that 
those  very  evils  which  he  shrank  from  suffering,  by 
an  acceptance  of  Christianity,  tended  rather  to  corro- 
borate the  Faith,  and  to  commend  it  the  more."  ^ 

Porphyry  was  the  most  formidable  literary  anta- 
gonist of  Christianity.^  His  enemies  acknowledged 
his  powerful  intellect,  his  brilliant  eloquence,  his 
unwearied  industry,  his  immense  erudition,  embracing 
the  encyclopaedia  of  contemporary  human  science. 
He  was  also  famed  for  supposed  supernatural  gifts, 
and  for  spiritual  communion  with  the  unseen  world,  as" 
well  as  for  the  sanctity  of  his  life,  and  his  rigid 
asceticismx.  He  was  familiar  also  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  with  some  eminent  Christian  teachers. 
The  noble  aspirations  of  his  Philosophy  had  peculiar 
charms  ;  it  claimed  the  power  to  emancipate  the  Soul 
from  earthly  trammels,  and  to  elevate  it  into  union 
with  God.^ 

Such  a  person  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  accepted 
the  popular  notions  of  Heathenism.  His  refined 
intellect — not  to  say  his  philosophical  pride — revolted 
from  the  monstrous  mendacity,  coarse  sensualism, 
and  wild  atrocities  of  the  popular  creed  ;  he  would 
probably  have  said  w^ith  his  master  Plotinus,  whose 
life  he  wrote,  "  The  gods  must  come  to  me,  not  I  to 
them.'"*  And  in  his  Epistle  to  Anebo,  an  Egyptian 
Priest,  he  declared  himself  as  an  adversary  of  some  of 

^  S.  Aug.  de  Civ.  Dei,  xix.  22.     Cp.  Euseb,  Praep.  Evaiig.  x.  9. 

2  Holstenii  Vita  Porphyrii,  c.  I,  2.  Eunapius  de  Vitis  Sophist. 
c.  2,  3. 

s  He  wrote  a  Treatise  on  the  Return  of  the  Soul  to  God.  S.  Aug. 
de  Civ.  Dei,  x.  9,  32. 

4  Porphyr.  Vit.  Plotini. 


368  PORPHYRY. 

the  heathen  deities,  such  as  Pluto  and  Serapis,  whom 
he  represented  as  demons/  But  still  he  would  en- 
deavour by  a  process  of  accommodation  to  symbolize 
its  Mythology,^  by  giving  it  a  mystical  meaning  ;  and 
he  attempted  to  vindicate  the  dignity  of  the  Gods, 
properly  so  called,  in  his  Theology,  by  represent- 
ing them  as  superior  to  the  lower  class  of  gods 
and  demigods,  whom  he  stigmatized  as  demons 
delighting  in  blood  and  lust/  He  also  defended 
image  worship  ^  upon  pleas  similar  to  those  used  by 
some  in  later  days  in  the  Christian  Church.  He 
maintained  the  divine  character  of  oracles.^  And  he 
was  ready  and  desirous  to  co-operate,  though  for 
different  reasons,  with  a  Diocletian  and  a  Maximian 
in  their  endeavours  to  exterminate  Christianity,  which 
wounded  his  philosophic  pride  ^  by  claiming  to  be 
alone  able  to  effect,  and  with  divine  power  and  infinite 
success  proved  itself  capable  of  effecting,  what  he 
imagined  himself  qualified  to  accomplish^ — the  libe- 
ration of  humanity,  tainted  and  depressed,  from  the 
stains  and  slavery  of  evil,  and  the  unification  of  man 
with  God. 

Diocletian  and  Maximian  waged  war  against  the 
Church  with  fire  and  the  sword.  Porphyry  assailed 
her  with  more  dangerous  weapons,  drawn  from  the 
armoury  of  philosophy  and  metaphysics. 

Eusebius  states  that  Porphyry  composed  a  work  in 

5  Theodoret,  Gr.  Affect,  pp.  775—777  ;  cp.  p.  893.^ 

<>  E.g.  in  his  works  on  Homer  (on  the  Grotto  of  the  Nymphs,  on  the 
Styx,  &c.).  Holsten.  Vit.  c.  6.  Euseb.  de  Prgep.  Evang.  iii.  9, 
states  Porphyry's  apologetic  pleas  for  idolatry. 

7  Neander,  i.  p.  38. 

^  Euseb.  Prsep.  Evang.  iii.  7. 

9  Ibid.  iv.  7. 

1  Cp.  S.  Aug.  de  Civ.  Dei,  x.  27,  28. 


PORPHYRY:  ON  SCRIPTURE-ON  ORACLES. 


369 


five  Books  against  Christianity,  in  which  he  directed 
his   assaults    against   the  Old  and  New  Testament 
which  he  had   carefully  studied.^     He  affirmed  that 
the  sacrifices  of  the  Mosaic  Law  could  not  be  accept- 
able to  God.^     His  Pythagoreanism  led  him  to  abstain 
from  animal  food,  and  to  condemn  sacrifices  of  livin- 
creatures.     He  asserted  that  the  prophecies  of  Daniel 
were  written  after  the  events  they  predict,^  namely 
in  the  times  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes.     He  animad- 
verted on  the  dispute  between  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter 
at  Antioch,^  as  betraying  the  failings  and  inconsisten- 
cies  of  those  to  whom   Christians  appealed  as  their 
principal  Teachers.  ■  He  said  that  since  Christianity 
had  been  preached,  the  World  had  derived  no  benefit 
from  the  deities  whom   it  formerly  worshipped,  and 
that  plagues  and  pestilences  had  become  more  rife 
since  ^sculapius  and  other  gods  had  ceased  to  visit 
the  world  ;«  and  thus,  as  Theodoret  observes,  he  bore 
testimony  to  the  effects  of  the  Gospel  in  restraining 
the  power  of  the  Evil  One  and  other  demons,  who,  as 
bt   Paul  says,  were  worshipped  as  gods  (i  Cor.  x.  20). 
In   his   book  on  Oracles,  Porphyry  relates   that  a 
heathen  consulted  Apollo,  what  god   he  should  pro- 
pitiate in  order  to  win  back  his  wife  to  Gentilism  from 
Christianity.?   to   which   the  Oracle  replied    that   he 
might  sooner  write  on  the  flowing  stream,  or  on  empty 
air,   than    turn  her  mind  after  she    once    had  been 
demorahzed  by  that  religion. 
The  Oracle  of  Apollo  also  justified  the  Judges  who 

3  l^^f'^'^o'  ^'*  '^^''^-  ^'^-  ^''-  P-  S93,  ed.  Schulze. 
Ibid.  p.  894. 

notetl'T.'r^"^^-  "'  ^'"^'^  ""''-     ^^">'  ^  ^'  ^"°^^'^d  to  refer  to  my 
no^tes  on  that  Chapter,  and  Introduction  to  the  Book  of  Daniel  ? 

Un  M'hich  T  have  said  more  on  Galatians  ii.  11. 

Thecdoret,  ibid.  p.  1040. 

B    b 


370     PORPHYRY  ON  CHRISTIANITY— REPLIES  OF 
METHODIUS  AND  E  USEE  I  US. 

had  condemned  Christ  to  an  excruciating  death,  as 
rebelHng  against  Judaism  ;  "  for  the  Jews,"  it  said, 
"■  are  more  pious  toward  God  than  the  Christians.  The 
great  Creator  of  all  is  adored  by  the  holy  Hebrews."  ^ 
Indeed  Apollo,  as  represented  by  Porphyry,  was  com- 
plimentary to  Judaism  at  the  expense  of  Christianity. 

In  answer  to  the  question  whether  Christ  was  a  God, 
and  might  not  be  worshipped  as  a  God,  with  other 
Gods,  although  He  had  suffered  death,  some  oracular 
responses,  especially  of  Hecate,  adopted  by  Porphyry, 
were  uttered  in  a  tone  of  apologetic  reverence  for 
Christ.  The  body  of  the  pious  (they  said)  is  subject  to 
suffering,  but  his  soul  rises  to  heaven.^  Christ,  though 
pious,  could  not  deliver  His  disciples  from  error. 
Porphyry  eulogized  Christ  at  the  expense  of  Chris- 
tians, whom  he  despised,  pitied,  and  condemned.^ 
Christ  was  pious,  they  were  impious.  And  even  in 
his  view  of  Christ,  says  Augustine,  he  did  not  rise 
above  the  heresy  of  the  Photinians.  The  Arians 
were  therefore  called  Porphyrians  by  Constantine.^ 
But  we  (says  S.  Augustine)  "  will  not  give  credit  to 
one  oracle  of  Porphyry  blaming  Christ,  nor  to  another 
praising  Him.  Porphyry's  only  wish  is  to  prevent 
men  from  being  Christians.  And  if  his  oracles  were 
true,  they  would  not  be  at  variance  with  each  other." 

S.  Methodius,  afterwards  a  Martyr  in  the  persecu- 
tion under  Diocletian,  wrote  a  reply  to  Porphyry's 
allegations ;     and     Eusebius     followed      him    in    a 

"  Augustine  de  Civ.  Dei,  xix.  23.  This  work  of  Porphyry  is  referred 
to  by  Theodoret  (1.  c. ),  and  especially  by  Eusebius  (1.  c).  A  newly- 
discovered  fragment  of  it  has  been  published  by  Cardinal  Mai. 

**  Euseb.  Demonst.  Evangel,  iii.  6.     Aug.  de  Civ.  Dei,  xix.  23. 

^Augustine  de  Civ.  Dei,  xix.  23,  "  Laudant  Christum,  vituperant 
Christianos." 

*  Socrat.  i.  9,  Labbe's  Concilia,  ii.  258. 


PR  A  CTICAL  REFUTA  TIONS  OF  PORPHYR  Y—      371 
MANICH.F,A  NISM. 

voluminous    work    of   thirty  (or    rather,  twenty-five) 

books.^     But  these,  with  the  work  of  Porphyry,  have 

perished.     His  objections  against    Christianity   have 

been  dealt  with  by  S.  Augustine  in  the  tenth  book  and 

nineteenth  book  of  his  work  on  the  "  City  of  God  ;" 

by  S.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  in  his  reply  to  Julian  ;  by 

Theodoret  in  his  work  on  heathenism,  and  more  fully 

by  Eusebius  "  on  Preparation  for  the  Gospel."  ' 

But  after  all,  the  most  powerful  refutation  of 
Porphyry's  attacks  on  Christianity  was  supplied  by  the 
lives  of  Christians  and  by  the  deaths  of  Martyrs,  and 
by  God's  grace  triumphing  in  them,  by  which  it  was 
shown  that  He  can  effect,  what  Porphyry  pretended 
to  do ;  namely,  can  free  men  from  earthly  fears,  and 
from  the  burden  of  the  flesh,  and  the  tyranny  of  the 
world,  into  the  "  glorious  liberty  of  sons  of  God," 
and  that  He  can  unite  them  for  ever  to  Himself. 

The  history  of  the  Platonist  Porphyry, — like  that 
of  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  the  Stoic  before 
him,  and  of  the  Emperor  Julian  after  him, — has  left 
this  salutary  warning  to  the  Church,  that  she  must 
not  look  for  better  treatment  from  the  contemptuous 
pride  and  rancorous  spite  of  unsanctified  Philosophy, 
than  from  the  furious  rage  of  infidel  Persecution. 

Manes,  from  whom  Manichseanism  derived  its 
name,  was  a  contemporary  of  Porphyry  ;  he  may  be 
regarded  rather  as  an  heresiarch  than  a  sceptic  ;  but 
he  promoted  the  cause  of  scepticism  by  reviving  the 
doctrines  of  some  of  the  Gnostic  Schools,  especially 
the  Marcionites,  ascribing  the   Old  Testament  to  the 

2  S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  c.  8i ;  Epist.  70.  Cp.  Bishop  Lightfoot's 
Article  on  Eusebius,  p.  329. 

^  See  Euseb.  Prsep.  Evang.  v.  5. 

B    b    2 


372  MANICH^ANISM—HIER  0  CLES. 

author  of  Evil,  whom  he  regarded  also  as  the  Creator 
of  matter.  He  therefore  denied  the  Incarnation  of 
Christ,  and  proscribed  Marriage."  But  the  full  develop- 
ment of  his  system  belongs  to  a  later  age,  especially 
to  that  of  S.  Augustine,  who,  having  formerly  been 
an  advocate  of  IManichaeanism,  became  the  ablest 
champion  of  Christianity  against  it. 

Lactantius  relates^  that  when  the  Imperial  edict 
for  exterminating  Christianity  was  published  at 
Nicomedia,  the  capital  of  Bithynia  (A.D.  303),  and 
when  the  Christian  Church  of  that  City  (where  he 
himself  resided  as  a  teacher  of  rhetoric)  was  destroyed, 
and  there  were  few  champions  of  the  Gospel,  who 
were  qualified  to  defend  it  by  eloquence  and  learning, 
two  persons  arose  to  insult  the  prostrate  Faith. 
•  One,  whom  he  describes,  was  a  celebrated  Philoso- 
pher ;  he  does  not  mention  his  name.  Some  suppose 
that  he  refers  to  Maximus,  who  gave  lectures  at 
Nicomedia,  and  was  the  Master  of  Julian  the 
Apostate;  others,  that  he  alludes  to  -Porphyry. 
This  person,  he  says,  put  forth  three  books  against 
the  Christians,  in  which  he  professed  to  reveal  the 
true  light  of  genuine  wisdom,  and  exhorted  them  to 
accept  it,  and  not  to  expose  themselves  recklessly  to 
torture  and  death  in  behalf  of  a  ruined  cause.  He 
also  eulogized  the  Persecutors,  and  encouraged  them 
to  persevere  in  their  endeavours  to  restore  and 
amplify  the  ancient  worship  of  the  gods,  and  to  pro- 
pitiate their  anger,  and  to  procure  their  favour  to  the 
State. 

The  other  writer  to  whom   Lactantius   refers  was 
Hierocles,  who  exercised  judicial  authority  as  President 

^  See  Epiphan.  Hseres.  66. 

5  Lactant.  Divin.  Institut.  v.  2. 


ADDRESS  OF  HIEROCLES  TO  THE  CHRISTIANS    373 

of  the  Bithynian  Magistrates,  and  who  had  been  a  pro- 
minent promoter  of  the  Persecution.  He  was  after- 
wards Governor  of  Alexandria.  He  proceeded  in  a 
more  subtle  and  specious  way.  He  wrote  two  books, 
says  Lactantius,  not  against  the  Christians,  but 
addressed  to  them,  in  which  he  professed  to  be  anxious 
for  their  welfare,  and  to  offer  them  salutary  advice. 
These  books  were  entitled  "  TriUh-loviug  Words  'to  the 
Christians^  '  In  them  he  endeavoured  to  show  that 
the  Scriptures  contradicted  themselves.  He  directed 
his  attacks  specially  against  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
and  charged  the  Apostles  with  having  deceived  and 
perverted  multitudes  by  fraud  and  imposture ;  while 
at  the  same  time  he  scorned  them  as  rude  and 
illiterate  men.  He  did  not  deny  the  reality  of  the 
Miracles  wrought  by  Jesus  Christ,  but  endeavoured 
to  disparage  them  by  contrasting  them  with  those 
of  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  who  lived  until  near  the 
end  of  the  first  century,  and  whose  life  had  been 
recently  written  by  the  rhetorician  Philostratus,  a 
favourite  of  the  wife  of  Septimius  Severus.  Speaking 
of  Apollonius,  Hierocles  says,  "  Notwithstanding  his 
wonderful  works,  we  do  not  regard  him  as  God,  but 
as  a  man  favoured  by  the  Gods;  whereas  the 
Christians  assert  that  Jesus— who  worked  fewer  and 
less  illustrious  miracles— is  God."  He  also  disparaged 
His  words  and  works,  as  compared  with  those  of 
Apollonius  of  Tyana,  on  the  ground  that  the  history 
of  the  latter  had  been  written  by  wise  philosophers, 
Maximus,  Damis,  and  Philostratus  ;  whereas  that  of 

''^iXaKriOeis  \6yoi,"  or  simply  6  <^«AaA7j07?y,  as  it  is  styled  by  Euse- 
bius  in  his  reply.  On  Hierocles  and  his  work  see  Lactant.  Inst.  v.  2  ;  de 
Mort.  Persecut.  c.  16,  and  the  reply  of  Eusebius  ;  and  Bishop  Pearson, 
Prolegomena  in  Hieroclem,  Minor.  Works  ii.  583—604.  Cp.  Fleury, 
Hist.  Eccl.  ii.  579. 


374  REPLY  OF  EUSEBIUS  TO  HIEROCLES. 

Christ  had  been   composed  by  ignorant  and  ilHterate 
men,  such  as  the  Apostles  and  EvangeHsts. 

Eusebius  composed  a  work,  still  extant,  against 
Hierocles/  He  deals  with  that  portion  of  his  argu- 
ments in  which  he  pleads  for  the  superiority  of  Apol- 
lonius.  He  says  that  the  rest  of  his  objections  had 
been  anticipated  and  answered  by  Origen  against 
CelsUs.  And  he  himself  intended  to  deal  with  them  in 
his  answer  to  Porphyry.  He  is  thus  led  to  examine 
the  eight  books — still  surviving — of  the  biography 
of  Apollonius  by  Philostratus.  He  urges  that 
Philostratus  is  inconsistent  in  representing  Apollonius 
as  a  divine  person,  at  the  same  time  that  he  tells  us 
the  names  of  the  different  men  by  whom  he  was 
taught,  and  that  he  learnt  much  from  the  philosophers 
of  India,  and  that  in  his  journeys  he  was  obliged  to 
use  the  help  of  an  interpreter  in  communicating  with 
foreigners.  He  owns  that  he  had  some  claims  to  be 
recognized  as  a  good  and  wise  man  ;  but  he  scrutinizes 
the  evidence  of  his  pretended  miracles.  At  the  same 
time  he  does  not  deny  that  some  of  them  may  have 
been  wrought  by  magical  arts  or  by  demons.  But 
the  main  point  on  which  he  dwells  is  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  subject  of  ancient  prophecy  for  many  centuries 
before  His  Advent.  He  affirms  that  the  evidence  of 
His  miraculous  works  is  clear  and  circumstantial  ;  and 
that  His  actions,  His  teaching,  and  His  sufferings 
have  been  productive  of  the  greatest  benefits  to 
Mankind,  and  that  those  effects  are  permanent  and 
increasing  ;  and  that  His  religion  is  advancing  in  a 
career  of  conquest,  although  the  whole  force  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  combined  with   the  world's  wisdom 

7  Published  by  Dean  Gaisford,  Oxon.  1852  ;  and  see   Bishop  Light- 
foot's  Article  on  Eusebius  in  Prof.  Wace's  Dictionary,  p.  328. 


BENEFITS  DERIVED  FROM  THE  SUFFERINGS     375 
OF  THE  MARTYRS— CHRISTIAN  LOYAITY. 

and  philosophy,  and  the  self-interested   endeavours  of 

the  most  powerful  and  numerous  classes  of  Society,  has 

endeavoured  to  check  and  to  crush  it ;  whereas  in  the 

•few  years  that  elapsed  since  the  death  of  ApoUonius, 

his  philosophy,  and  his  name  itself,  had  almost  vanished 

away. 

4.  Other  benefits  were  derived  from  the  sufferings  of 
some  of  the  INIartyrs  in  these  persecutions. 

They  were  made  occasions  for  the  practical  de- 
claration of  the  Christian  Doctrine  concerning  the 
true  grounds  of  Loyalty  to  Civil  Rulers,  and  the  true 
nature  and  limits  of  Obedience  to  secular  Powers. 

We  have  already  seen  in  the  statements  of  Tertul- 
lian  that  even  the  fiercest  persecution  by  civil  rulers 
could  not  provoke  the  Christians  to  resentment  and 
retaliation,  and  that  they  patiently  submitted  to  cruel 
tortures  rather  than  rebel  against  those  Rulers  under 
whom  they  were  placed  by  the  providence  of  God. 
They  prayed  foi'  those  who  killed  them.  They  re- 
membered and  obeyed  Christ's  precept,  "Render 
unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's  "  (Matt.  xxii. 
21),  and  St.  Paul's  words,  "Let  every  soul  be  sub- 
ject to  the  higher  powers.  There  is  no  power  but  of 
God  :  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God.  Who-, 
soever  therefore  resisteth  the  power,  resistetJi  the  ordi- 
nance of  God  ;  and  they  that  resist  shall  receive  to 
themselves  damnation  "  (Rom.  xiii.i,  2),  and  St.  Peter's, 
"  Submit  yourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for 
the  Lord's  sake"  (i  Pet.  ii.  13).  They  therefore  were 
subject  to  the  Civil  Authority.  They  submitted  to  it, 
and  did  not  resist  it.  And  further,  in  all  things  that 
were  not  contrary  to  God's  Law,  they  obeyed  it. 

But  in  anything  that  was  clearly  repugnant  to  that 


376  LOYALTY  OF  CHRLSTLANS—CHRISTLAN  SOLDIERS. 

Law,  they  did  not  obey  it.  They  obeyed  the  civil 
power  as  far  as  it  was  God's  minister  and  vicegerent 
for  God's  sake  ;  but  they  would  not  disobey  God  for 
the  sake  of  man.  On  the  contrary,  they  imitated  the 
example  of  the  three  Children  at  Babylon,  who  were 
content  to  be  cast  into  the  fiery  furnace  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, rather  than  worship  any  but  God  (Dan.  iii.  17, 
18).  They  imitated  Daniel,  who  was  content  to  be 
cast  into  the  lions'  den  by  Darius,  rather  than  omit 
his  prayers  a  single  day  (Dan.  vi.  10 — 16).  They 
imitated  the  aged  Priest  Eleazar,  ninety  years  old, 
who  was  content  to  be  tortured  on  the  rack  by  order 
of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  rather  than  disobey  God, 
and  eat  unclean  meats,  forbidden  by  His  Law  (2  Mace, 
vii.  18 — 22).  They  imitated  the  faithful  Woman  and 
her  seven  sons,  who  were  content  to  suffer  torture 
and  death  by  command  of  the  same  king,  rather 
than  break  that  Law  (2  Mace.  vii.  i — 42)'.  They 
imitated  the  Apostles,  who  commanded  all  men  to 
obey  civil  rulers  in  all  things  that  were  not  against 
God's  Law,  but  who  went  to  prison  rather  than  desist 
from  preaching  the  Gospel  which  Christ  had  com- 
manded them  to  preach  ;  and  who  suffered  martyr- 
dom at  the  hands  of  those  rulers,  rather  than  violate 
God's  Law  by  worshipping  any  other  than  the  one 
true  God. 

These  principles  were  exemplified  in  numerous 
Martyrdoms,  especially  of  Christian  Soldiers  in  per- 
secutions in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries.  Take  a 
notable  instance  of  this.  In  A.D.  2S6,  the  Emperor 
Maximian,  Colleague  of  Diocletian,  summoned  from 
the    East    a    military  Legion    called   the    Thebaean,^ 

8  Acta  Martyrum  siiicera,  p.  274,  in  a  letter  from  Eusebius,  Bishop 
of  Lyons,  to  a  brother  Bishop  Salvias. 


NOBLE  ANSWER  OF  CHRISTIAN  SOLDIERS  TO    377 
MAXIMIAN. 

which  consisted  mainly  of  Christians,  to  Gaul,  and 
commanded  the  soldiers  to  help  him  in  exterminat- 
ing Christianity. '  The  Emperor  and  his  forces  were 
stationed  among  the  Alps,  at  the  place  now  called 
Martigny,  in  the  Valais,  on  the  north  of  the  Great  St. 
Bernard.  The  Legion  refused  to  obey  his  command 
to  march  against  the  Christians.  The  Emperor 
ordered  the  Legion  to  be  decimated,  once  and  again. 
Still  the  Legion  remained  steadfast  in  their  resolve ; 
and  they  sent,  at  the  advice  of  three  of  their  officers, 
Mauricius,  Exsuperius,  and  Candidus,  the  following 
Memorial  to  the  Emperor: — "We  are  thy  soldiers, 
O  Emperor;  but  we  are  also  servants  .of  God.  We 
owe  military  service  to  thee  ;  but  we  owe  innocency  to 
Him.  From  thee  we  receive  pay  ;  from  Him  we  have 
life.  We  cannot  obey  thee,  so  as  to  deny  God,  Who 
is  our  Creator,  and  thine.  If  we  are  not  commanded 
by  thee  to  do  any  wrong,  by  which  we  may  offend 
Him,  we  will  gladly  obey  thee^  as  we  have  done 
hitherto  ;  but  if  otherwise,  we  must  obey  Him  rather 
than  thee.  We  offer  to  thee  our  hands  for  warfare 
against  any  of  thine  enemies,  but  we  cannot  imbrue 
those  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  innocent.  We  first 
took  a  baptismal  pledge  to  God,  we  afterwards  took 
a  military  oath  to  thee  :  thou  canst  not  suppose  that 
we  shall  be  true  to  the  latter,  if  we  are  false  to  the 
former.  Thou  commandest  that  Christians  shall  be 
brought  to  punishment  by  our  means.  Well  then, 
we  who  are  Christians  must  first  be  brought  to  be 
punished  by  thee.  Here  we  are  ;  we  confess  God  the 
Father  to  be  the  Creator  of  all  things,  and  Jesus 
Christ  His  Son  to  be  God.  We  have  seen  the 
deaths  of  our  fellow-Christians,  and  we  have  not 
avenged  them  by  rebelling  against  thee.      Nay,  we 


378  ANOTHER  CHRISTIAN  SOLDIER. 

have  rather  rejoiced  in  their  being  counted  worthy  to 
suffer  for  the  Lord  their  God.  And  now  we,  who  are 
Christians,  have  not  been  induced  to  rebel  against 
thee,  even  by  despair  of  hfe.  We  hold  our  arms  in 
our  hands,  and  we  do  not  resist  thee.  We  desire  to 
be  killed  ourselves,  rather  than  to  kill  the  innocent 
and  to  be  guilty  and  live*.  W^hatsoever  tortures  thou 
hast  ready  for  us,  we  are  ready  to  suffer  them.  We 
confess  ourselves  Christians,  and  we  cannot  persecute 
those  who  are  Christians." 

The  Emperor  was  infuriated  by  this  refusal,  and 
commanded  them  to  be  put  to  the  sword  by  his 
heathen  troops: 

One  more  example. 

In  the  Persecution  in  A.D.  298,  Marcellus,^  a  Cen- 
turion at  Tangiers  in  Mauritania,  was  commanded  to 
take  his  place  in  the  sacrificial  festivities  on  the 
Emperor's  birthday  ;  he  refused,  and  unclasped  his 
military  belt,  and  cast  it  on  the  ground,  as  a  sign 
that  he  had  thrown  up  his  commission.  He  said, 
"  I  am  a  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Eternal  King, 
and  serve  Him."  He  was  brought  before  his  com- 
manding officer,  and  was  cast  into  prison  ;  and  thence 
was  sent  for  trial  to  the  Propraetor,  who  commanded 
him  to  be  beheaded.  "  Deus  tibi  benefaciat "  was 
his  reply,  and  the  sentence  of  death  was  executed 
upon  him.  Before  his  death  the  Clerk  of  the 
Court,  Cassianus,  who  was  commanded  to  commit 
the  sentence  to  writing,  cast  down  with  execration 
to  the  ground  the  tablets  on  which  he  had  been 
taking  notes,  and  the  stilus  with  which  he  was 
writing :  on  which  Marcellus  smiled  ;  for  he  knew 
that    Cassian    would    soon     be    his    companion    in 

^  Acta  sincera,  p.  302. 


CHRISTIAN  SUBMISSION— DUTIES  TO  HEATHEN    379 
SUPERIORS. 

martyrdom.     Cassian  suffered  for  the  faith  not  many 

days  afterwards.^ 

The  principle  on  which  these  Christian  soldiers 
acted  was  well  expressed  in  a  later  age  by  S.  Augus- 
tine. "  Sometimes  the  Powers  of  this  world  fear 
God  ;  sometimes  they  fear  Him  not.  The  Emperor 
Julian  was  an  unbeliever,  an  apostate,  an  idolater  ; 
yet  Christian  soldiers  served  under  him.  When  in- 
deed a  question  arose  as  to  their  .obedience  to  Christ, 
they  acknowledged  Him  only  Who  is  in  heaven. 
Whensoever  the  Emperor  ordered  them  to  worship 
idols,  or  to  offer  incense,  they  preferred  God  to  him. 
But  when  he  said,  Draw  out  the  line  of  battle,  March 
against  this  or  that  nation,  forthwith  they  obeyed  their 
King."  They  distinguished  the  King  Eternal  from 
their  temporal  King,  and  yet  they  were  subject  even 
to  their  temporal  King,  on  account  of  their  King 
Eternal." 

The  difference  between  siibmission  and  obedience  is 
to  be  carefully  noted.  Christians  sithmitted  to  tem- 
poral Rulers  in  all  things  ;  they  never  rebelled  against 
them  ;  and  they  obeyed  them  also  in  those  things 
which  were  not  contrary  to  the  Law  of  God,  but  not 
in  those  that  were  against  it. 

So  much  for  Christians  in  military  service.  As  to 
civil  functionaries,  Theonas,  Bishop  of  Alexandria  in 
the  time  of  Diocletian,  wrote  an  excellent  letter,^ 
about  A.D.  290,  to  Lucian,  a  Christian,  who  was 
Chamberlain  to  the  Emperor,  in  which  are  some 
moral  precepts  concerning  the  duties  of  Christian 
officials  to  heathen  Princes. 

"  Every  commandment  of  the  Emperor,"   he  says, 

1  Acta,  p.  304. 

2  See  it  in  Routh,  Reliquice  iii.  439—447. 


380         OTHER  BENEFITS  FROM  PERSECUTION. 

''which  is  not  repugnant  to  God's  will,  is  to  be  re- 
garded  by  thee  as  coming  from  God  Himself. 
Mandatum  Principis,  quod  Deum  non  offendit,  ab 
ipso  Deo  processisse  putetis." 

5.  The  cruelty  of  the  Persecutors  of  the  Church 
brought  out  in  a  clearer  light  the  love  of  God  which 
overruled  that  cruelty  for  her  good.  Whom  the  Lord 
I'oveth  He  chasteneth  (Heb.  xii.  6). 

We  have  seen  S.  Cyprian's  remarks  (p.  339)  on 
the  Persecution  under  Decius  as  a  bitter  but  salutary 
medicine,  administered  by  the  hand  of  God  to  heal 
the  spiritual  diseases  which,  in  a  season  of  long  tran- 
quillity, had  infused  a  subtle  poison  into  the  hearts 
of  some  in  the  Church, — even  her  Bishops  and  Priests. 

The  Church  historian  Eusebius  makes  a  similar 
observation  concerning  the  causes  of  the  persecution 
under  Diocletian  after  forty  years'  peace.  His  words 
are  memorable,  and  may  serve  as  a  warning  for  other 
ages  of  the  Church. 

"  Nothing,^'  he  says,  "  could  harm  the  Church,  as 
long  as  God's  arm  protected  her.  But  after  that, 
from  too  much  liberty,  our  condition  was  changed  to 
one  of  vanity  and  carelessness,  and  Christians  envied 
and  reviled  one  another,  and  there  were  collisions 
of  prelates  with  prelates,  and  of  laymen  with  laymen. 
Hypocrisy  and  dissimulation  prevailed  among  us. 
At  first  the  hand  of  God  arrested  us  gently  by  a  per- 
secution of  some  of  our  brethren  who  were  in  the 
army.  But  when  we  were  insensible  to  the  correc- 
tion, and  would  not  set  our  hearts  to  appease  our 
merciful  God,  we  brought  on  ourselves  other  calami- 
ties. Our  Pastors  rejected  the  ordinances  of  religion, 
and  were  inflamed  with  passionate  strifes  against 
each  other,  and  did  nothing  but  aggravate  conten- 


MARTYRS  TRANSFIGURED  BY  SUFFERING.        381 

tions  and  menaces,  jealousy,  enmity,  and  hatred 
against  one  another,  and  indulged  in  love  of  pre- 
eminence, and  affected  a  tyrannical  despotism." 

He  describes  the  consequences  of  these  intestine 
strifes  and  confusions  in  the  demolition  and  spolia- 
tion of  Churches  (Euseb.  viii.  i  and  2). 

But  God's  justice  is  tempered  with  mercy,  and 
Persecutions  of  the  Christians  exercised  a  corrective 
discipline,  not  only  in  penal  visitations,  but  in  lead- 
ing them  to  look  up  to  God  for  that  help,  comfort, 
and  joy  which  He  never  fails  to  give  to  the  faithful 
in  the  hour  of  trial.  The  Church  was  purified  by 
the  fire,  and  came  forth  more  bright  and  glorious 
from  it. 

6.  Joseph  Scaliger  said  ^  that  he  was  transported  with 
rapture  when  he  read  the  records  of  ancient  Martyr- 
doms, and  that  his  heart  glowed  within  him  with  the 
fire  of  faith  and  love  and  admiration.  No  wonder. 
Not  only  brave  soldiers,  and  others  in  the  prime  of 
life,  but  aged  men,  and  tender  and  delicate  women,* 
and  boys  "  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed 
valiant  in  the  fight  "  of  faith  (Heb.  xi.  34),  and  were 
enabled  by  divine  grace  to  endure  cruel  tortures  with 
joy,  and  to  triumph  over  them  ;  and  their  behaviour 
and  outward  appearance  in  the  midst  of  those  tor- 
tures gave  practical  proofs  of  the  inner  working  of 
that  grace,  and  of  the  almighty  power  and  exceed- 

3  "  Ego  nihil  unquam  in  historia  Ecclesiastica  vidi  a  cujus  lectione 
commotior  recedam,  ut  non  amplius  meus  esse  videar."  Jos.  Scaliger, 
Animadv.  ad  Euseb.  ad  ann,  2183.  The  "  Acta  Martyrum  sincera, "  col- 
lected and  edited  by  the  learned  Benedictine,  Theodoric  Ruinart,  Amst. 
1713,  ed.  2nda,  may  well  be  called  a  "liber  aureus." 

^  "  Pueri  et  mulieres  nostrce  cruces  et  tormenta,  feras,  et  omnes  sup- 
pliciorum  terriculas  inspirata  patientia doloris  illudunt."  Minuc.  Felix, 
p.  339.      The  "torti"  were  "  torquentibus  fortiores." 


382  TRANSFIGURATION  OF  MARTYRS. 

ing  love  of  Christ,  Whose  servants  they  were  ;  and 
have  supphed  to  Christians  in  every  age  of  the 
Church  the  strongest  motives  for  courage  in  defence 
of  the  faith,  and  for  reliance  on  His  protection.  Who  is 
the  same  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  for  ever  (Heb. 
xiii.  8  ^).  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death 
of  His  saints  (Ps.  cxvi.  15).  He  was  with  them  as  with 
the  three  Children  in  the  fiery  furnace,  and  with 
Daniel  in  the  lions'  den. 

Some  evidence  of  this  wonderful  transfiguration 
may  be  noted  here.  S.  Polycarp,  who  was  more  than 
eighty-six  years  old,  appeared  as  one  restored  to 
youthful  vigour  of  body  and  soul  in  his  Martyrdom,*^ 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  fire  his  body  was  irradiated 
with  glory.  The  countenances  of  the  Martyrs  at 
Lyons ''  shone  with  angelic  beauty,  like  that  of 
St.  Stephen.  They  were  tortured  again  and  again,  as 
if  they  had  suffered  nothing.  Blandina,  being  sus- 
pended on  a  cross,  and  exposed  to  wild  beasts,  en- 
couraged others  by  her  prayers  ;  and  after  many 
lacerations  of  her  limbs,  and  having  been  scorched  with 
fire,  she  was  tied  in  a  net  and  tossed  by  a  Bull.  All  the 
while  she  was  unconscious  of  what  was  done,  and 
communed  with  Christ  in  prayer.^  Sanctus,  having 
been  scorched  in  the  fire,  and  racked  with  violent 
contortions,  was  refreshed,  as  it  were,  bjj  living  water 
from  Christ,  and  was  restored  to  his  former  vigour. 
They  were  at  length  despatched  by  their  tormentors, 
who  were  exhausted  with  torturing  them.  Perpetua 
at  Carthage  was  placed  in  a  net,  and  was  tossed  by  a 


''  Compare  Keble's  Christian  Year,  19th  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

6  Martyr.  Polycarp.  13,  14. 

'  Acta  Martyr,  p.  66.     Euseb.  v.  lo. 

•*'  Ibid.  p.  69.     Euseb.  v.  14. 


JOY  IN  MARTYRDOM.  283 

wild  Cow ;  ^  and  after  some  time  she  fell  on  the  ground, 
and  was  lifted  up  by  a  catechumen  called  Rusticus  ; 
and  as  if  she  had  just  awoke  from  sleep,  she  asked 
him,  "  When  shall  I  be  brought  out  to  be  tossed  by 
the  Cow  ?  "  She  did  not  believe  what  had  happened 
till  she  saw  the  marks  on  her  body  where  she  had 
been  crored.  The  countenance  of  S.  Laurence,  the 
Archdeacon  of  Rome,  martyred  A.D.  258,  shone  like 
that  of  Moses/  When  he  was  on  the  gridiron,  he  said 
to  his  Roman  Judge,  "  This  side  of  my  body  is  now 
roasted  enough  ;  now  turn  it  and  roast  the  other^  and 
then,  if  thou  wilt,  devour  it."  ^  He  then  prayed  for  the 
conversion  of  Rome,  and  died.  Flavianus,  one  of  the 
African  Martyrs  in  A.D.  259,  saw  a  vision  of  the 
martyred  Bishop  S.  Cyprian  in  a  dream,^  and  asked 
him  whether  a  Martyr  had  the  sense  of  pain  in  his 
death  }  To  which  the  reply  was;  "  When  the  mind  is 
in  heaven,  the  body  has  other  feelings  than  those  of 
torment  :  if  the  mind  is  wholly  devoted  to  God,  the 
body  has  no  sense  of  pain."  Claudius,  the  Lycian 
Martyr  in  A.D.  289,  said  to  Lysias  the  Governor,  who 
ordered  him  to  be  placed  on  the  rack,  and  his  feet  to 
be  burnt,  and  portions  of  them  to  be  cut  off  and  pre- 
sented to  him,  "  Thy  fire  and  tortures  do  no  harm 
to  them  that  fear  God,  but  procure  for  them  eternal 
life.  Those  tortures  may  destroy  the  body,  but  they 
save  the  soul.  I  count  it  great  gain  to  suffer  for 
God,  and  great  riches  to  die  for  Jesus  Christ."  The 
youthful  Porphyry,  who  was  martyred  at  Csesarea 
A.D.  309,  is  described  as  going  with  a  joyful  coun- 
9  Acta,  p.  loi. 

1  Ibid.  p.  1 93-. 

2  Prudentius,  Hymn,  de  S.  Laurent.,  Stanza  loi,  102.     S.  Ambrose 
de  Oftic.  i.  41.     Acta  Martyr,  p.  194. 

3  Acta,  p.  237. 


384        S.  A  LB  A  AT  THE  PRO  TO  MARTYR  OF  BRITALV. 

tenance  to  the  stake,  to  which  he  was  tied  in  order 
to  be  burnt.  The  cheerful  beauty  of  his  countenance 
did  not  fade  away.  He  opened  his  mouth  to  draw  in 
the  fire,  and  then  prayed  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Jesus, 
Thou  Son  of  God,  help  me."  ^ 

One  more  example  may  be  quoted  as  showing  the 
power  of  God's  grace,  not  only  in  enabling  the  Martyrs 
to  suffer  joyfully,  but  as  inspiring  them  with  love  for 
others,  and  exciting  them  to  save  their  lives  by  their 
own  death. 

S.  Alban,  the  first  Martyr  of  Britain,  suffered  in 
the  Persecution  under  Diocletian.  It  has  been  sup- 
posed by  some  that  Cohstantine's  father,  Constantius, 
who  had  the  government  of  Britain,  Gaul,  and 
Spain  from  A.D.  292,  protected  the  Christians  from 
persecution,^'  and  some  doubts  have  been  cast  01 
the  record  of  S.  Alban's  Martyrdom  in  Bede's  his- 
tory.^ But  it  must  be  remembered  that  as  long  as 
Constantius  was  only  Caesar,  he  could  not— however 
favourable  to  the  Christians  he  might  be — resist  the 
orders  of  Maximian,  who  was  the  colleague  of  Dio- 
cletian in  the  Empire  from  A.D.  286  to  A.D.  305  ;  and 
that  Constantius  was  only  Caesar  from  A.D.  292  to 
A.D.  305,  when  he  was  associated  with  Galerius  as 
Augustus.  The  persecution  under  Diocletian  began 
P^bruary  23rd,  A.D.  303.  It  is  most  probable  that 
S.  Alban  was  martyred  in  that  or  the  following  year. 

The    place  of  his    Martyrdom    was    Verulamium 

4  Euseb.  de  Martyr.  Palestin,  cap.  ii.  Eusebius  in  that  Book 
describes  (ibid.)  what  he  himself  saw,  especially  the  Martyrdom  of  his 
own  patron  and  friend,  the  Presbyter  of  Coesarea,  Pamphilus,  from 
whom  he  derived  this  cognomen,  "  Eusebius  Faviphili,'^  and  who  was 
the  Master  of  the  young  Porphyiy. 

5  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  i.  13. 

^  Historia  Eccl.  Gentis  Angliorum,  i.  6,  7. 


S.  ALB  AN' S  MARTYRDOM.  385 

(St.  Alban's)  ;  the  day,  June  22nd,  as  stated  by  Bedc. 
While  yet  a  pagan,  he  received  and  entertained  hos- 
pitably for  some  days  a  Christian  priest'  who  was 
flying  from  his  persecutors  ;  and  he  was  so  much  im- 
pressed with  his  behaviour,  and  by  his  continual 
prayers  and  watchings,  and  with  the  teaching  and 
example  of  his  faith  and  charity,  that  he  became  a 
Christian. 

When  the  soldiers  who  were  in  quest  of  the  Priest 
came  to  his  house,  Alban,  dressed  in  the  Priest's  cas- 
sock (caracalla),  presented  himself  to  them,  and  was 
bound  and  carried  before  the  Judge,  who  was  offer- 
ing sacrifice  at  an  altar ;  and  being  enraged  with 
him  for  allowing  the  Priest  to  escape,  and  for  deceiv- 
ing his  pursuers,  required  him  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods. 
Alban,  who  had  declared  to  the  soldiers  that  he  was 
a  Christian,  refused  to  obey,  and  said,  ^'  I  worship 
only  the  true  God  Who  created  the  Universe,  but 
these  your  sacrifices  are  offered  to  demons  who  can- 
not do  good  to  their  worshippers  ;  but  they  who 
worship  them  will  be  punished  eternally."  The 
Judge  ordered  him  to  be  beaten  ;  and  when  he  was 
cruelly  tortured,  he  suffered  joyfully  for  the  Lord, 
till  the  Judge,  seeing  that  he  could  not  shake  the  con- 
stancy of  his  faith,  commanded  him  to  be  beheaded. 
Bede  describes  ^   with  poetical  feeling  the  beauty  of 

7  Called  Amphibalus  by  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  and   Giraldus  Cam- 
brensis,  Itin.  i.  5.     Cp.  Ussher,  Brit.  Eccl.  Antiq.  vii. 

8  As  is  remarked  by  Wordsworth  in  the  note  to  his  Sonnet  on  S. 
Alban's  Martyrdom  (Eccl.  Sonnets,  vi.). 

' '  Thus  was  Alban  tried, 
England's  first  Martyr,  whom  no  threats  could  shake. 
Self-offer'd  victim  for  his  friend  he  died, 
And  for  the  faith  ;  nor  shall  his  name  forsake 
That  hill,  whose  flowery  platform  seems  to  rise 
By  nature  deck'd  for  holiest  sacrifice." 

C   C 


386  S.  ALB  AN' S  CATHEDRAL. 

the  hill  with  its  grassy  summit  embroidered  with 
flowers,  and  sloping  gently  downward,  and  prepared 
by  the  hand  of  nature  to  be  an  altar  for  so  precious 
a  sacrifice  as  that  of  the  Protomartyr  of  Britain. 
"  The  blood  of  the  Martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church." 
This  has  been  verified  in  S.  Alban.  In  our  own  age 
he  has  given  his  name  to  a  new  Diocese  ;  and  the 
noble  Minster  erected  on  the  site  of  his  Martyrdom 
has  now  become  an  English  Cathedral. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

Councils  and  Creeds — General  Remarks  on  Con  nails — 
Inferences  from  their  History —  What  constitutes  a 
General  Conncil—'Ante-Nicene  Councils — Council 
of  Jerusalem — Councils  of  Carthage,  of  Antioch, 
Cirtha — Origin  of  Donatism — Council  of  Eliheris, 
or  Elvira — Council  of  Rome— Council  of  Aries — 
Council  of  Ancyra — Council  of  Neo-Ccesarea — 
Apostolic  Canons  {so  called)  and  Apostolic  Con- 
stitutions— General  Reflections. 

Our  Blessed  Lord  promised  to  His  Disciples  that 
wherever  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  His 
Name,  there  He  would  be  in  the  midst  of  them 
(Matt,  xviii.  20)  ;  and  that  He  would  be  with  them 
always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world  (Matt,  xxviii.  20) ; 
and  that  He  would  send  to  them  the  Spirit  of  truth 
to  teach  them  all  things,  and  to  lead  them  into  all 
truth,  and  to  abide  with  them  for  ever  (John  xiv.  16  ; 
xvi.  13). 

The  Church  of  Christ  relied  on  these  divine 
promises  ;  and  when  a  question  arose  among  the 
disciples  at  Antioch, — about  twenty  years  after  our 
Lord's  Ascension  into  heaven, — whether  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Ceremonial  Law  was  obligatory  on  Gen- 
tile Converts,  the  disciples  resolved  "  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas  should  go  up  to  Jerusalem  unto  the  Apostles 
C  c  2 


388     COUNCIL  OF  JERUSALEM— INFERENCES  FROM     ' 
ANTE-NICENE  COUNCILS— EPISCOPACY. 

and    Elders    about   this  matter "  (Acts   xv.  6).     This 

was  the  first  Council   of  the  Christian  Church.     St. 

Peter  was  the  foremost  to  speak  in  that  assembly.    He 

was  followed  by  Barnabas  and  Paul.   St.  James,  who 

was  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  who,  as  such,  appears 

to  have  presided  at  the  Council,  closed  the  debate  by 

pronouncing  his  judgment,  which  was  adopted  by  the 

Apostles   and  Elders  with  the   assent  of  the   whole 

Church  (Acts  xv.  22,  23  ;^  xvi.  4),  and  was  embodied 

in   a   synodical    decree   to   be  communicated  to  the 

Gentile  Churches,  by  whom  it  was  received  with  joy 

(Acts  XV.  30,  31)- 

This  Council  of  Jerusalem  was  a  precedent  and 
pattern  for  succeeding  Synods  of  the  Church. 

In  examining  their  Acts  and  Records  we  arrive  at 
the  following  results  : — 

1.  Their  history  bears  practical  testimony  to  the 
existence  of  Episcopacy  as  the  received  form  of 
Church  Government  in  the  ages  next  to  that  of  the 
Apostles. 

The  Ante-Nicene  Councils  of  Carthage,  Antioch, 
Eliberis,  Ancyra,  Neo-Caesarea,  Aries,  and  others  in 
divers  parts  of  the  world,  Africa,  Asia,  Spain,  Gaul,  and 
elsewhere,  all  consisted  of  Bishops.  They  show  that 
Episcopal  Government  was  that  form  of  spiritual 
regimen  which  was  universally  received  by  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  to  which  Christ  had  promised  His  own 
presence  and  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

2.  The  history  of  ancient  C-ouncils  also  shows  that 
no  one  Bishop — such  as  the  Bishop  of  Rome — was 
supreme  over  the  rest,  or  was  regarded  by  the  Catho- 
lic Church  as    an    Infallible    Guide.     If  Christ   had 

1  The  reading  of  the  text  xv.  23  is  not  quite  certain,  but  this  does 
not  affect  the  question  ;  cp.  xv.  22. 


NO  ONE  SUPREME,  INFALLIBLE  HEAD— THE      389 
WHOLE  CHURCH  CANNOT  FAIL— ANY  PART  MAY. 

appointed  any  such  Supreme  Head  and  Infallible 
Guide,  the  sub-Apostolic  Churches  mu^t  have  known 
the  fact,  and  would  have  recognized  such  an  ap- 
pointment. Their  Bishops  would  have  spared  them- 
selves the  time  and  trouble  of  long  journeys  for 
the  purpose  of  coming  together  in  Synods,  and  they 
would  have  resorted  to  him  for  direction ;  and  if  they 
had  met  together  in  such  assemblies,  they  would 
have  acknowledged  him  as  entitled  to  guide  and 
govern  their  deliberations. 

But  there  is  no  evidence  whatever  of  any  such 
opinion  or  practice  in  the  history  of  the  Church  in 
the  first  three  centuries. 

3.  Although  Christ  promised  His  presence  and  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  whole  Church  as 
His  mystical  body,  and  therefore  it  was  a  recognized 
principle  that  the  whole  CJmrch  would  never  be  so 
infected  with  error  that  any  fundamental  and  neces- 
sary article  of  the  Faith  would  ever  be  lost  or  dis- 
appear from  it,  yet  it  was  never  any  article  of  the 
Creed  of  the  Church  that  false  doctrines  might  not 
be  taught  by  leading  persons  in  the  Church,  and  the 
truth  not  be  obscured  in  sundry  parts  of  the  Church. 

She  was,  however,  fully  persuaded,  that  whatever 
doctrines  had  been  received  as  true  by  the  whole  mystical 
body  of  Christ,  those  doctrines  are  not  false,  but  true. 
Also,  whatever  doctrine  can  be  shown  to  have  been 
unknown  to  the  whole  Church  in  the  times  of  the 
Apostles  or  after  them,  and  much  more  whatever 
doctrine  can  be  shown  to  have  been  contravened  and 
rejected  by  the  whole  Church,  is  not  a  true  doctrine,  but 
false. 

It    cannot   be   affirmed  a  priori   that   any  Person 
in  the  Church,   however   eminent,  or  any  particular 


390        THE  RECEPTION  OF  A  DOCTRINE  BY  THE 
WHOLE  CHURCH  PROVES  ITS  TRUTH. 

Council  of  the  Church,  however  numerous,  or  any 
particular  Church,  however  illustrious,  is  infallible 
and  cannot  err  ;  but  we  may,  and  do,  affirm  a  poste- 
riori, that  those  doctrines  which  have  been  received  as 
agreeable  to  God's  Word  by  the  whole  Body  of  Christ, 
or  Church  Universal,  to  which  He  promised  His  pre- 
sence and  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  not 
erroneous,  bnt  true,  and  are  most  surely  to  be  believed 
by  all  men. 

Let  us  illustrate  these  propositions  by  examples. 

The  decree  of  the  Councils  of  Carthage,  under  S. 
Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,"  A.D.  255,  256,  which 
affirmed  that  the  true  Baptism  of  Christ  could  7iot  be 
administered  by  heretics,  i.  e.  by  persons  who  held 
some  erroneous  doctrine,  was  afterwards  revised,  and 
rejected  by  other  Councils,  and  by  the  common  con- 
sent and  practice  of  the  Church. 

But  the  decree  of  a  prior  Council  under  S. 
Cyprian,  A.D.  253,^  affirming  the  duty  of  baptizing 
infants,  was  received  by  the  Church  as  agreeable  to 
Holy  Scripture  and  ancient  practice. 

The  rejection  of  the  former,  and  the  reception  of  the 
latter,  decrees  by  the  Church  Universal  have  decided 
the  relative  value  of  the  two  Councils. 

S.  Augustine  asks,''  "  Who  is  ignorant  that  the 
Holy  Canonical  Scripture  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament is  of  paramount  authority  to  that  of  all 
Epistles  of  Bishops,  which  may  be  revised  by  other 
more  wise  and  grave  Epistles  of  other  Bishops,  and  if 
they  have  swerved  from   the  truth  may  be  reproved 


'  See  them  in  Routh's  Reliquiae,  iii.  pjD.  io8,  112. 
•^  Ibid.  p.  98. 

^  De    Baptismo    contra  Donat.  ii.   4,  torn.   ix.  p.  J83,  ed.   Paris. 
J857. 


WHAT  CONSTITUTES  A   GENERAL  COUNCIL?     391 

by  Councils  ;  and  that  Councils  themselves,  held  in 
particular  places  or  provinces,  must  submit  to  the 
authority  of  other  plenary  Councils  convened  from  the 
whole  of  Christendom,  and  that  even  plenary  Councils 
may  be  corrected  by  other  subsequent  Synods  ? " 

4.  The  question  therefore  arises. 

What  is  it  that  constitutes  a  General  Council  ? 

The  answer  to  this  inquiry  is.  No  one  can  tell 
a  priori  whether  a  Council  will  be  a  General  one  or  not. 

If  a  Council  satisfy  certain  conditions,  it  is  not 
necessarily  a  General  one  ;  although  on  the  other 
hand  the  non-compliance  with  those  conditions  is 
fatal  to  its  claim  to  such  an  appellation. 

A  Council  is  not  necessarily  a  General  Council, 
although  it  is  summoned  (as  all  the  first  Six  General 
Councils  were  ^)  by  Christian  Princes. 

Nor  is  it  necessarily  a  General  Council,  although  it 
professes  to  base  its  decrees  on  Scripture  ;  ^  at  the  same 
time  the  non-observance  of  that  condition  invalidates 
its  claim  to  be  a  General  Council. 

A  Council  cannot  be  a  General  Council,  if  it  is  merely 
from  one  Diocese  or  Province  or  Patriarchate  ;  nor 
is  it  necessarily  a  General  Council,  although  it  may 
consist  of  Bishops  from  almost  all  parts  of  Christen- 
dom. It  is  notorious,  that  in  some  Councils,'  which 
no  one  regards  as  General,  many  more  Bishops  were 
present,  than  in   other  Synods  which  are  universally 

■  ^  See  Bishop  Andrewes^  Sermons,  vol.  v.  160,  and  Toitura  Torti, 
pp.  193,  422  ;  and  Theophilus  Anglicanus,  Part  iii.  chap.  vi. 

"  An  open  copy  of  the  Gospels  was  placed  on  a  throne  in  the  Council 
Chamber  as  a  token  of  the  royal  authority  of  Scripture  in  governing 
the  Synodical  Decrees.  S.  Cyril  Alexand.  ad  Theodos.  Act.  Concil. 
Ephes.  Labbe,  Concil.  iii.  pp.  175,  1044.  So  that,  as  S.  Cyril  says, 
they  had  "Christ  Himself  with  them  as  their  Head." 

'  Such  as  the  Council  of  Constance  as  to  some  of  its  decrees.  Ste 
Cardinal  Beliarmine  de  Conciliis,  ii.  7,  17. 


_&92  EXAMPLES  OF  GE.VERAL  COUNCILS. 

acknowledged  as  General  Councils.  The  Council  of 
Rimini  in  A.D.  359,  which  was  in  favour  of  Arianism, 
contained  many  more  Bishops  than  the  Council  of 
Nicaea  in  A.D.  325,  by  which  Arianism  was  condemned. 
But  the  one,  though  larger,  was  not  General  ;  the 
other,  though  smaller,  was  General,  because  its  Creed 
has  been  received  by  the  Church  Universal,  but  that  of 
Rimini  is  rejectedhy  it. 

Nor  can  a  Council  be  necessarily  predicated  to  be  a 
General  one,  even  if  all  its  Bishops  are  free  agents  ; 
although,  if  they  are  bound  by  an  unrighteous  and 
uncatholic  oath  to  a  human  Power  as  supreme  (as  the 
Bishops  in  the  Council  of  Trent  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, and  in  the  Vatican  Council  of  our  own  day  were, 
who  had  all  taken  an  oath  of  vassalage  to  the  Pope), 
it  camiot  be  called  by  that  name. 

The  only  adequate  proof  that  a  Council  is  truly 
General  or  CEcumenlcal  is,  that  its  Decrees,  being 
built  upon  Holy  Scripture  and  Cathohc  tradition, 
are  subsequently  received  by  the  CJmrch  Universal, 
which  is  the  Body  of  Christ,  to  which  He  promised 
His  perpetual  presence,  and  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Such  were  the  Councils  of  Nicaea  (A.D.  325), 
of  Constantinople  (A.D.  381),  of  Ephesus  (A.D.  431),  of 
Chalcedon  (A.D.  451).^  They  satisfied  those  conditions, 
and  are  rightly  called  General  Councils. 

Remembering  Christ's  promises  to  His  Church,  and 
firmly  believing  that  He  Who   is   the  Truth  cannot 

^  Also  the  Second  Council  of  Constantinople,  a.d.  553,  against  the 
"three  chapters"  as  favouring  Nestorianism.  Also  the  Third  of  Con- 
stantinople, A.D.  680,  against  the  Monothelites,  in  which  Pope 
Honorius  was  condemned.  To  which,  as  confirming  the  two  former 
Councils  (which  had  not  enacted  any  Canons),  may  be  added  Concilium 
Quinisextum  (Concil.  v.  and  vi.),  or  in  TruUo,  held  under  Justinian, 
A.D  .692. 


A  COUNCIL  MAY  BE  GENERAL  IN  SOME  RESPECTS,   S93 
AND  NOT  IN  OTHERS. 

have  failed  to  fulfil  what  He  promised  to  perform,  and 
that  therefore  He  is  proved  by  that  general  reception 
to  have  been  present  in  those  Councils,  and  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  spake  in  them,  let  us  not  fear  to  adopt 
the  reverential  language,  with  which  pious,  holy,  wise, 
and  learned  men  of  old  described  the  doctrinal  decrees 
of  those  Councils,  and  especially  the  CREED  pro- 
mulgated by  those  Councils.  They  recognized  those 
Decrees  and  that  Creed  as  authentic  utterances  of  the 
Divine  Presence,  promised  and  vouchsafed  to  them, 
and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  ascribe  them  to  the 
operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.^ 

5.  It  follows  that  even  in  a  certain  sense  the  same 
Council  may  be  called  a  General  Council  in  some 
respects,  and  not  General  in  others. 

For  example,  the  Nicene  Council,  which  put  forth 
the  Nicene  Creed,  also  put  forth  a  Canon  on  Rzhial 
(in  a  spirit  of  reverence  for  Christ's  Resurrection),  for- 
bidding any  one  to  kneel  in  prayer  in  church  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  or  between  Easter  and  Pentecost  (Canon 
20). 

In  the  former  Act  the  Council  was  a  General  one, 
in  the  latter,  not  so.  And  why  }  Because  the  former 
act  was  approved  by  the  whole  Body  of  Christ ;  but 

9  See  S.  Gregory  the  Great,  saying  "se  quatuor  Concilia  suscipere 
et  venerari  sicut  sancti  Evangelii  quatuor  libros."  Epist.  i.  25  ;  iii.  lO  ; 
iv,  28  ;  V,  51.  Cp,  S.  Ambrose  de  Fide,  iii.  15  ;  Epist.  xxi.;  S.  Leo, 
Epist.  cv.  ;  S.  Augustin.  de  Bapt.  vii.  53  ;  and  Vincent.  Lirin.  Com- 
mon.  c.  2,  on  the  general  subsequent  consent  of  the  Church  being  the 
seal  of  conciliar  authority. 

The  Church  of  England  in  the  Council  of  Calchuythe,  a.d.  785 
(Wilkins,  Concil.  i.  146),  received  the  first  six  General  Councils.  See 
also  Wilkins,  i.  254,  as  to  the  first  four  Councils,  and  ibid.  i.  52  as  to 
the  first  five  General  Councils.  The  Realm  of  England,  i  Eliz.  c.  i. 
§  36,  refers  to  the  first  four  General  Councils  as  authoritative  in  matters 
of  doctrine. 


394    RELIGIOUS  DIVISIONS  OVERRULED  FOR  GOOD.  . 

the  latter  did  not  receive  that  sanction.  The  difference 
was  in  the  reception  of  the  one  act,  and  in  the  non- 
reception  of  the  other. 

6.  The  present  divided  condition  of  Christendom 
renders  it  very  improbable  that  another  General 
Council  of  the  Church  Universal  will  be  held  for  a 
long  time  to  come.  But  this  is  not  an  unmixed  evil. 
Great  good  may  be  derived  from  it.  By  reason  of 
these  divisions  themselves,  no  power  now  exists,  or  is 
likely  to  exist,  of  sufficient  authority  to  disturb  or 
invalidate  in  the  slightest  degree  the  Catholic  Creed 
(commonly  called  the  Niceno  -  Constantinopolitan 
Creed),  which  has  been  received  by  the  consent  of 
united  Christendom.  No  power  now  exists  in  Christen- 
dom of  sufficient  weight  to  affect  the  ancient  Synodi- 
cal  Decrees  concerning  the  Christian  Faith  received 
by  an  united  Christendom  before  the  division  of  the 
East  and  West.  Those  Decrees  have  been  now 
stereotyped  for  ever;  and  we  may  rest  contented  with 
them. 

The  present  divisions  of  Christendom  may  make 
us  more  thankful  to  the  Head  of  the  Church  for  the 
utterances  which  were  prompted  by  Him  before  those 
divisions  arose. 

7.  For  three  centuries  and  a  quarter  after-  Christ 
the  Church  existed  zvitJwttt  any  General  Council. 
She  was  not  able  to  summon  Synodical  Meetings  in 
times  of  Persecution,  and  in  her  short  breathing-times 
of  Peace  only  a  few  local  Councils  were  held.  In 
that  period  the  Apostolic  traditions,  received  by  a 
succession  of  Bishops  from  the  beginning  (as  declared 
by  S.  Irenseus  and  Tertullian),  were  still  fresh  in  her 
memory. 

Providentially,    as    time   passed    on,   and   as   oral 


THE  TRUE  FAITH,  DECLARED  BY  THE  CHURCH  395 
IN  HER  CREEDS. 

tradition  became  more  faint  and  indistinct,  the  Canon 
of  Holy  Scripture  had  acquired  clearness,  and  was 
firmly  settled,  and  tradition  was  tested  by  it  The 
Creeds  of  the  primiitive  Church,  expanded  from  the 
Baptismal  Formula  or  profession  of  Faith  in  the 
Blessed  Trinity  (Matt,  xxviii.  19),  and  set  down  by 
S.  Irenaeus  (i.  2  and  3;  see  above,  p.  217),  and  by 
Tertullian  (Praescript.  c.  13  ;  de  Veland.  Virg.  cap.  i  ; 
c.  Prax.  c.  2  ;  above,  p.  241),  by  Gregory  Thaumatur- 
(Op.  p.  ly  and  apud  Gregor.  Nyssen.  p.  979  ;  above, 
p.  284),  and  the  Apostolic  Constitutions  (vii.  41),  and 
in  the  Roman  Creed  (commonly  called  the  Apostles' 
Creed),  though  not  derived  from  Scripture,  for  (as 
Richard  Baxter  observes  ^)  these  Creeds  were  in 
substance  prior  to  Scripture,  yet  were  proved  by 
Scripture.  They  were  also  a  co-ordinate  and  inde- 
pendent witness  to  Scripture.  The  Tradition,  thus 
proved,  settled  itself  and  was  crystallized  in  the 
Creed  promulgated  in  the  First  General  Council,  that 
of  Nicaea,  A.D.  325,  and  was  completed  in  the  Second 
General  Council,  that  of  Constantinople,  A.D.  381. 

The  Church  of  the  first  three  centuries  existed  and 
prospered  without  any  General  Council,  by  the  fresh- 
ness of  Apostolic  Tradition,  and  by  the  testimony  of 
Holy  Scripture. 

We  who  live  now  have  the  Canon  of  Holy  Scripture 
firmly  fixed  and  established,  and  the  Apostolic  Tra- 
dition embodied  in  the  Niceno-Constantinopolitan 
Creed,  and  we  may  thankfully  accept  the  work  of 

1  R.  Baxter,  in  his  "  Catechizing  of  Families  "  and  "  Introduction  to 
Catholic  Theology,"  well  says,  tha;t  "as  Christ  Himself  was  the  Author 
of  the  Baptismal  Covenant,  so  the  Apostles  were  the  authors  of  that 
exposition  which  they  used,  and  taught  the  Church  to  use,  in  adminis- 
tering Baptism,  and  they  did  that  by  the  Holy  Ghost  as  much  as  their 
inditing  of  Scripture." 


393      BLESSINGS  DERIVED  FROM  THE  WORK  OF 
CHRIST  AND  THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT  IN  THE  CHURCH 

Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  them  both.     We  do 

not  now  need  any   more   General  Councils  to  give 

additional   stability  to  the  Catholic   Faith,  which   is 

unmoved  and  immovable,  or  to  give  more  fulness  to 

what  is  complete,  or  to  impart  more  clearness  to  that 

which  shines  brightly  like  the  noonday  Sun.     We  are 

content  and  thankful   for  the  inestimable  benefits  we 

possess  in  that  sacred  deposit  of  the  Truth,  which  has 

been   entrusted   by  Christ  to  the  Church,  and  which, 

under  the  guidance  and   guardianship  of  the    Holy 

Ghost,   has  been  carefully  preserved   by  her  against 

the   assaults    of    Heresy,    and    which   can    never   be 

impaired'  by  any  earthly  Power,  or  be  altered  by  any 

lapse  of  time. 

Let  us  now  pass  in  review  the  Ante-Nicene  Councils 
of  the  Church.  They  afford  valuable  instruction 
concerning  ancient  doctrine  and  discipline. 

Samosata,  a  royal  city  of  Syria,  acquired  an  unhappy 
notoriety  by  giving  birth  to  two  celebrated  persons, 
Lucian,  the  Voltaire  of  the  second  century,  and  Paul, 
Bishop  of  Antioch,  the  Socinus  of  the  third,  who 
promulgated  a  heresy  concerning  our  Blessed  Lord's 
Person. 

A  Council  was  held  at  Antioch,  A.D.  264,  to  examine 
his  opinions  ;  but  before  any  synodical  judgment  was 
pronounced  upon  him,  certain  Bishops,  especially  the 
great  Bishop  of  Alexandria_,  Dionysius,^  and  others,^ 
remonstrated  with  him  by  letters,  in  which  they 
declared  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Eternal  Godhead  of 
Christ,  and  His  distinct  Personality  and  Incarnation, 
as  revealed  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  handed  down  by 
primitive  tradition. 

2  See  his  letter  in  Labbe's  Concilia,  i.  p.  850. 
2.  Labbe's  Concilia,  i.  843, 


Ai\TE-yiCENE  COUNCILS—COUNCILS  OF  ANTIOCH  397 
—PRIESTS  AND  DEACONS  AT  COUNCILS. 

There  are  extant  also  ten  questions  propounded  by- 
Paul  to  Dionysius,  with  the  answers.''  Paul  at  first 
parried  the  attack  upon  him  by  artful  evasions,  but  in 
A.D.  269  another  Council  was  held  at  Antioch  to 
deliberate  more  fully  on  his  opinions. 

Two  eminent  Bishops  were  removed  by  death  about 
this  time,  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  (A.D.  265),  and 
Firmilian  of  Caesarea  (A.D.  269).  Firmilian  had  been 
at  the  Council  of  A.D.  264 ;  Dionysius  had  excused 
himself  from  attendance  on  account  of  old  age. 

At  the  Council  of  A.D.  264  the  celebrated  Scholar 
of  Origen,  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  Bishop  of  Neo- 
Caesarea,  Avas  present,  and  his  brother  Athenodorus, 
Helenus  Bishop  of  Tarsus,  Nicomas  of  Iconium, 
Hymenseus  of  Jerusalem,  Theotecnus  of  Caesarea  in 
Palestine,  Maximus  of  Bosra,  and  many  other 
Bishops,  besides  Priests  and  Deacons. 

Here  it  may  be  mentioned  in  passing,  that  the 
presence  of  Priests  and  Deacons  in  Councils,  as  well 
as  of  Bishops,  is  attested  by  many  other  ancient 
precedents,  as  at  Carthage  in  S.  Cyprian's  time,  and 
at  Eliberis  ^  and  Aries.  The  Synodical  Epistle  of 
the  Council  of  Antioch  of  A.D.  269,  in  which  Paul 
was  excommunicated  and  deposed,  was  written  in  the 
names  not  only  of  the  Bishops  there  present,  but  of 
the  Presbyters  and  Deacons,  and  Churches  of  God 
(Euseb.  vii.  30). 

As  to  the  right  of  voting  at  Synods,  Bishops  (who 
were    liable   to    penalties    for   contumacy,    if,    when 

•*  Labbe's  Concilia,  i.  858—893. 

5  Concil.  Elib,  piooem.  There  were  not  only  Bishops,  but  Presbyters, 
"  adstantibus  Diaconibus  et  omni  plebe."  Cp.  Bingham,  Antiquities,  ii. 
19,  20. 


398  PAUL  OF  SAMOSATA. 

duly  summoned,  they  failed  to  attend)  had  suffrages 
in  all  Councils. 

Presbyters  were  obliged  to  attend  Diocesan  Synods, 
and  Deacons  also  were  sometimes  present ;  but 
neither  Priests  nor  Deacons  (unless  they  were  dele- 
gates specially  commissioned  by  Bishops)  appear  to 
have  had  decisive  voices  for  the  framing  of  Synodical 
Decrees,  although  they  were  admitted  to  signify  their 
consent  to  them  ;  as,  in  some  cases,  were  laymen.^ 

But  to  return  to  Paul  of  Samosata.  He  regarded 
Christ  as  a  mere  Man,  and  as  not  having  had  any 
existence  before  His  birth  as  such';  and  he  taught  that 
the  Divine  Logos  came  down  upon  Him  from  God,  and. 
imparted  His  influence  to  Him,  and  then  returned 
to  the  Father.  He  held  that  the  Divine  Logos  dwelt 
in  Christ  in  a  higher  degree  than  in  any  other  person, 
and  that  by  reason  of  this  indwelling  He  was  called 
the  Son  of  God,  and  that  He  was  in  a  certain  sense 
divinized  by  means  of  His  moral  and  spiritual  develop- 
ment.^ 

The  character  of  Paul,  as  described  by  the  Council, 
is  rather  that  of  a  secular  functionary,  proud  of  his 
official  dignity,  like  a  vain-glorious  rhetorician,  fond 
of  oratorical  display,  and  of  popular  applause,  than  of 
a  Christian  Bishop  (Euseb.  vii.  30J.  It  is  stated  that 
"he  abused  his  power  with  rapacious  covetousness,  and 
iniiulged  in  profligate  libertinism.     He  enjoyed  the 

*"'  The  Rev.  Arthur  W.  Haddan  has  well  stated  the  practice  in  Dr, 
Cheetham's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities,  i.  p.  481  ;  and  may  I 
refer  to  my  note  on  Acts  xv.  23  ? 

"  Athanasius  de  Synodis,  t.  4.  On  the  tenets  of  Paul  see  the  Synodical 
Letter  in  Euseb.  vii.  30,  and  Epiphanius,  Hcer.  c.  65  ;  Theodoret,  Hceret. 
ii.  8.  Cp.  Neander,  ii.  364  ;  Newman's  Arians,  pp.  4 — 6  ;  Dorner  on 
the  Person  of -Christ,  Division  i.  vol.  ii.  pp.  10,  197,  347,  436. 


THE  TERM  HOMOOUSIOS.  399 

favour  of  Zenobia,  Queen  of  Palmyra,  who  inclined 
to  Judaism.^  He  suppressed  the  hymns  in  his  Church 
which  were  sung  to  Christ  as  God,  and  introduced 
others  in  praise  of  himself 

A  specimen  of  his  sophistry  as  a  dialectician  is 
cited,  by  which  he  gained  an  advantage  over  the 
Bishops  of  the  Council.  He  alleged,^  that  if  Christ 
was  not  made  God  from  out  of  a  man.  He  is  there- 
fore hornoousios  or  consiibstantial  with  the  Father,  and 
thence  it  would  follow  that  there  were  three  substances, 
viz.  one  pre-existing  substance,  out  of  which  two 
Beings  were  produced,  the  Father  and  the  Son,  like 
two  coins  struck  from  the  same  metal  ;  and  that  there- 
fore, if  that  term  was  a  correct  one,  the  Father  was 
not  eternal. 

It  is  said  that  to  avoid  this  consequence  from  the 
alleged  premisses,  the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  perceiv- 
ing his  subtlety,  and  considering  that  the  word  con- 
siLbstantial\N2.s>  not  to  be  understood  in  such  a  corporal 
sense  as  he  adopted,  and  that  the  substance  of  the 
Father  is  the  fountain  and  origin  of  Deity,  and  the 
Son  is  not  a  creature,  but  of  the  same  nature  with 
the  Father,  begotten  from  eternity  of  the  substance  of 
the  Father,  as  the  Son  Himself  says,  **  I  and  the 
Father  are  one  "  (substance), — abstained  from  the  use 
of  the  word  homoousios,  which  was  afterwards  the 
essential  test  of  truth  in  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  and 
the  special  symbol  of  Catholicism. 

But  as  S.  Athanasius,^  and  S.  Hilary,^  and  S.  Basil  ^ 
say,  the  Council  of  Antioch  did  not  regard  the  term 

8  S.  Athanas.  Hist.  Arian.  §  71. 

^  Athanasius,  i.  p.  758,  quoted  by  Bp.  Bull,  v.  p.  ^%  ed.  Oxf.  1S27. 

'  S.  Athanas.  de  Synodis,  §  45,  51. 

2  S.  Hilary,  Liber  de  Synodis,  §  81,  S5. 

3  S.  Basil,  Epist   Hi. 


400      PAUL  OF  S AMOS  ATA   CONDEMNED  BY  THE 
COUNCIL  OF  ANTIOCH  FOR  HERESY. 

homootisios   in    the   same   sense    as    the    Council    of 

Nicaea   afterwards   did.      The    Council    of    Antioch 

abstained   from   it  because  they  rejected  the  heresy 

which  alleged  that  there  is   One  only  Person  in  the 

Godhead  ;    the  latter  Council  used   it  because   they 

affirmed  the  oneness  of  substance  in  the  Persons  of 

the  Godhead ;  and  both  Councils  agreed  in  the  essence 

of  the  doctrine.'* 

To  quote  again  the  words  of  S.  Athanasius,  ''  Inas- 
much as  Paul  of  Samosata  contended  that  the  Son 
did  not  exist  before  Mary,  but.  received  the  beginning 
of  His  existence  from  her,  therefore  the  Bishops 
assembled  at  Antioch  condemned  him  as  guilty  of 
heresy,  and  did  not  apply  themselves  to  a  careful 
analysis  of  the  word  homoousios,  being  intent  on  one 
thing,  to  eradicate  his  false  doctrine,  and  to  declare  the 
truth  that  the  Son  existed  before  all  things,  and  was 
not  made  God  from  man,  but  that,  having  pre- 
existed as  God  from  eternity.  He  took  on  Him  the 
form  of  a  servant." 

Paul  was  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Antioch  in 
A.D.  269,  mainly  by  the  help  of  the  Presbyter  Malchion, 
who  was  a  skilful  logician.  Notaries  were  present  at 
the  Council,  and  wrote  down  the  allegations  of  Paul, 
which  were  extant  in  the  days  of  Eusebius  (vii.  29). 

4  See  Bishop  Bull,  v.  p.  81  ;  Defensio  Fidei  JS'ic.  ii.  i,  9 — 13  ;  S. 
Athanas.  de  Synodis,  §  45.  "The  Council  of  Antioch,"  says  S. 
Hilary  (de  Synod.  §  81,  85),  "rejected  the  term  Homoousios  when 
they  condemned  Paul  of  Samosata,  because  by  his  misuse  of  the  word 
he  made  the  Father  to  be  the  same  Person  as  the  Son.  The  Church 
regards  this  meaning  as  most  profane,  because  it  reduces  the  Father  and 
the  Son  to  a  solitude  of  union  and  singularity,  and  denies  the  propriety 
of  each  as  a  distinct  Person,^' 

Dr.  Waterland  (i.  p.  330)  says,  "  The  Antiochene  Fathers  condemned 
the  word  Homoousion  as  it  had  been  misapplied  by  Paul  of  Samosata, 
but  they  established  the  same  doctrine  with  the  Nicene  Fathers." 


APPEAL  TO  AURELIAN— PERSECUTIONS—        401 
COUNCIL  OF  CIRTHA. 

From  these  written  evidences  Malchion  was  enabled 
to  refute  him. 

But. although  Paul  was  deposed,  and  Domnus  was 
made  Bishop  in  his  place,  yet  he  was  still  supported 
by  Queen  Zenobia  till  the  year  272,  when  she  was 
conquered  by  the  Emperor  Aurelian,  who,  though  a 
heathen,  awarded  the  Church  and  Episcopal  Palace  at 
Antioch  to  the  orthodox  Bishop,  in  accordance  with 
the  decision  of  the  Church. 

Toward  the  close  of  his  reign,  in  A.D.  275,  Aurelian 
issued  edicts  of  persecution  against  the  Christians,  and 
some  Christians  suffered  martyrdom  at  that  time,^  and 
after  the  succession  of  Diocletian  and  Maximian  in 
A.D.  284.^  But  it  was  not  (as  has  been  already 
said)  till  A.D.  302,  Feb.  23rd,  at  Nicomedia,  that  an 
Imperial  Edict  was  issued  for  a  general  persecution 
of  the  Church.  This  will  account  for  the  suspension 
of  the  Synodical  action  of  the  Church  at  that  time. 

In  A.D.  305,  March  4th,  after  the  abdication  of 
Diocletian  and  Maximian,  and  the  restoration  of 
peace  to  the  Church,  a  Council  was  held  at  Cirtha  in 
Numidia,  of  eleven  or  twelve  Bishops,  in  the  house  of 
Urbanus  Donatus,  the  Churches  being  in  ruins,  to 
elect  a  Bishop  to  the  vacant  See.  These  Bishops 
were  Traditores,  but  they  did  not  hesitate  to  elect  a 
Bishop  to  Cirtha.  The  Bishop  Secundus  who  pre- 
sided at  this  Council  took  part  ^  in  the  election 
and  consecration  of  another  Traditor,  Silvanus,  by 
other    Bishops   who   were    also    Traditors,   and   who 

5  See  Hilary,  ii.  376. 

6  Ibid.  pp.  391,  397,  399,  406. 

"  S.  Augustin.  Brevic.  Collat.  die  3tio,  c.  15,  17,  and  contra  Crescon. 
iii.  26,  27  ;  Epist.  162,  165.    Optatus  Milev.  i.  p.  39. 

D  d 


402  COUNCIL  OF  ELVIRA. 

afterwards  joined  the  party  against  Caecilianus,  the 
legitimate  Bishop  of  Carthage,  and  opposed  him  on 
the  plea  (which  was  proved  to  be  false)  of  his  being 
a  Traditor. 

This  Council  of  Cirtha  is  therefore  a  memorable 
event  in  the  history  of  the  Donatistic  controversy. 

Another  Council  met  in  the  same  year  (a.d.  305), 
the  Council  of  Eliberis^  or  Elvira,  in  Spain.  Nineteen 
Bishops  were  present,  the  principal  of  whom  was 
Hosius,  Bishop  of  Corduba  {Cordova),  the  capital  of 
Spain,  a  Confessor  of  the  Church,  and  afterwards  cele- 
brated as  the  friend  and  adviser  of  Constantine,  and 
for  the  lead  he  took  in  the  Council  of  Nicaea.^ 

Another  valiant  Confessor  was  present,  Valerius, 
Bishop  of  Saragossa ;  and  twenty-six  Priests,  and 
many  Deacons,  who  remained  standing  during  the 
sessions  of  -the  Synod  ;  and  a  large  number  of  lay- 
men. The  Council  passed  eighty-one  Canons  on 
Ecclesiastical  Discipline.^  Those  which  occupy  the 
first  place  are  against  idolatry,  and  against  those 
persons  who  had  taken  any  part  in  heathen  worship 
or  ceremonies  ;  and  they  inflict  penalties  upon  them 
(see  Canons  i,  2,  3,  4 ;  cp.  Canons  40,  41,  55,  57). 
A  civil  Magistrate  is  exhorted  to  abstain  from 
coming  to  Church  during  his  year  of  office  (c.  56), 
probably  because  during  that  year  he  was  present 
ofiicially  at  idolatrous  worship.  This  Canon  was 
afterwards  modified  by  the  Council  of  Aries  under 
Constantine,  A.D.  314,  Canon  7,  which  provided  that 
members  of  the  Church  being  appointed  to  be 
provincial    Governors,   were    to    be    furpished   with 

8  See  the  memorable  description  of  his  character  by.  Hooker,  V.  xlii. 
^  They  may  be  seen  in  Labbe's  Conciha,  i.  pp.  967—980;  Bruns' Con- 
cilia, ii.  p.  I. 


CANO.VS  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  ELVIRA.  403 

commendatory  letters  to  .the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese 
where  they  were  going,  and  to  be  received  to 
communion  as  long  as  they  did  nothing  contrary  to 
Church  discipline. 

Other  Canons  were  directed  against  acts  of  bodily 
violence  (c.  6),  against  ill-treatment  of  slaves  (c.  5), 
also  against  defamation  and  false  witness,  especially 
slander  of  any  spiritual  person  (c.  7,  73,  74,  75). 
Many  Canons  deal  with  the  sin  of  adultery  (c.  47,*  65, 
69,  70).  A  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon  guilty  of 
adultery  is  never  to  be  admitted  to  communion 
(c.  18).  Against  abortion,  and  traffic  in  pandering, 
&c.  (c.  12),  and  infanticide  (c.  63),  against  divorce 
(which  is  forbidden,  c.  8,  9,  10),  against  mixed 
marriages .  with  heathens  and  Jews  (c.  15,  16,  17,  18), 
against  marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister;  a 
person  who  contracts  such  a  marriage  is  to  be  excom- 
municated for  five  years,  unless,  for  reasons  of  neces- 
sity, an  earlier  restoration  is  advisable  (c.  6).  He  who 
marries  his  wife's  daughter  is  guilty  of  incest,  and  is 
not  to  be  admitted  to  communion  while  he  lives 
(c.  6G).  If  a  maiden  has  fallen  into  sin,  she  may  be 
restored  after  a  year's  penance,  in  case  she  marries  her 
seducer '(c.  14). 

Virgins  dedicated  to  God  who  have  fallen  into  sin 
are  to  be  kept  from  communion  during  life  (c.  13). 

As  to  Baptism,  a  faithful  layman  may  baptize  in 
case  of  necessity  (c.  38),  but  he  must  take  care  that 
the  baptized  person  be  brought  afterwards  to  the 
Bishop  for  the  laying  on  of  hands  (c.  ^%,  JJ  ;  cp.  above, 
p.  56).     Nothing  is  to  be  received  for  Baptism  (c.  48). 

As  to  Communion,  the  Bishop  is  not  to  receive 
offerings  from  those  who  do  not  communicate  (c.  28  ; 
cp.  above,  p.  65,  note). 

D  d  2 


40 1      •  CAiVO.VS  OF  ELVIRA— RISE  OF  DONATISM. 

Persons  who  dwell  in  a  town,  and  absent  themselves 
from  the  public  assemblies  of  the  Church  for  three 
successive  Lord's  Days,  are  to  be  deprived  of  the 
privilege  of  coming  to  Church  for  the  same  number  of 
Sundays  (c.  2i). 

No  Bishop  may  communicate  with  any  who  have 
been  excommunicated  by  another  Bishop  (c.  53). 

What  is  adored  and  worshipped  ought  not  to  be 
represented  by  painting  in  a  Church  ;  and  paintings  in. 
Churches  are  forbidden  (c.  36). 

It  has  been  supposed  by  some^  that  this  Canon 
was  due  to  a  fear  that  sacred  things  would  be 
desecrated  by  heathens  in  times  of  idolatry ;  and 
doubtless  some  of  these  Canons  were  produced  by 
the  consideration  of  the  peculiar  state  of  the  Church 
at  that  time.  Such,  perhaps,  is  Canon  33,  which  for- 
bids the  Clergy  (when  "  positi  in  ministerio "  -)  to 
cohabit  with  their  wives ;  probably  on  the  same 
ground  as  the  Apostolic  precept  to  Christians  generally, 
for  the  present  distress  (i  Cor.  vii.  26),  when  everyone 
ought  to  be  prepared  for  Martyrdom. 

With  this  general  remark  the  Canons  of  this 
Council  may  be  commended  to  careful  consideration, 
as  being  the  decrees  of  the  earliest  Council,  as  far  as 
we  know,  on  matters  of  Ecclesiastical  Discipline. 

In  the  year  311,  Mensurius,  Bishop  of  Carthage, 
died  ;  and  the  Bishops  of  the  Province  of  Africa,  being 
assembled  at  Carthage,  elected  Caecilianus^  a  Deacon 
of  that  Church,  to  be  the  Bishop  of  the  vacant  See. 

Donatiis  of  Casa  Nigra,  and  others,  amounting  in 

^  Fleury,  Eccl.  Hist.  ii.  p.  544. 

2  The  Clergy  were  not  to  put  away  their  wives,  unless  their  wives 
were  guilty  of  adultery  ;  and  then  they  were  i-equired  to  do  so,  on  pain 
of  perpetual  excommunication  (c.  65). 


COUNCIL  OF  ROME.  405 

number  to  sixty-six  Bishops,  among  whom  were  the 
Bishops  of  the  Council  of  CirtJia  already  mentioned 
(p.  401),  being  irritated  at  not  having  been  summoned 
to  his  election,  cited  Caecilian  to  appear  before  them ; 
and  when  he  declined  to  appear,  they  pronounced  a 
sentence  of  condemnation  upon  him,  as  having  been 
consecrated  by  Traditors,  among  wham  they  specially 
mentioned  Felix  of  Aptunga.  And  they  proceeded 
further  to  consecrate  Majoriims  to  be  Bishop  of  Car- 
thage in  his  room. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  schism  of  the  Donatists, 
which  derived  its  name  from  Donatiis  of  Casa  Nigra, 
and  from  another  more  celebrated  Donatus  who  suc- 
ceeded Majorinus  in  the  See  of  Carthage.^ 

On  Friday,  October  2nd,  A.D.  313,  the  contending 
parties  met  in  Council  at  Rome,  in  the  house  of 
Fausta,  in  the  Lateran,  on  the  summons  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine ;  Caecilian  with  ten  Bishops- 
on  his  side,  and  Donatus  with  ten  Bishops  of  his 
communion,  to  be  heard  by  a  Council. 

The  Bishop  of  Rome,  Miltiades,  presided.  The 
Council  consisted  of  three  Bishops  from  Gaul,  and 
fifteen  from  Italy,  with  the  Bishop  of  Rome  at  their 
head.  The  Council  sat  three  days.  On  the  iirst  day 
it  heard  the  charges  brought  against  Caecilian,  which 
were  dismissed  as  not  proved. 

Csecihan  then  accused  Donatus  of  having  begun 
the  schism  by  re-baptizing,  and  by  laying  hands  on 
lapsed  Bishops. 

On  the  second  day  other  accusations  were  brought 
against  Caecilian,  but  they  were  quashed  also. 

On  the  third  day  an  examination  was  made  of  the 

3  For  the  history  see  S.  Augustine,  Brevicul.  Collationis  die  3,  c.  12, 
16  ;  Epist.  43,  162  ;  Hseres.  69  ;  c.  Epist.  Parmeniani,  i.  c.3  ;  in  Crescon. 
ii.  c.  I.     Optatus  de  Schismate  Donat.  i.  pp.  40,  41. 


403  APPEAL  FROM  ROME. 

acts  of  the  seventy  Bishops  of  the  Council  of  Car- 
thage, who  had  condemned  CaeciHan  and  those  who 
ordained  him.  Those  acts  were  declared  to  be  null 
and  void,  because  Cascilian  had  not  been  heard  by 
the  Council,  and  had  been  condemned  unheard. 

This  Council  at  Rome  would  not  enter  into  the  ques- 
tion whether  Felix  of  Aptunga,  one  of  the  Bishops  who 
ordained  Caecilian,  was  a  Traditor.  Some  of  those  who 
had  taken  part  in  condemning  Caecilian  and  ordain- 
ing Majorinus  were  also  Traditors  ;  and  the  Council 
held  that  the  grace  of  the  Episcopate  in  conferring 
Ordination,  was  not  vitiated  by  the  personal  defects 
or  delinquencies  of  him  through  whom  that  grace  was 
conferred,  so  long  as  he  was  not  condemned  by  lawful 
judicial  sentence. 

They  acquitted  Caecilian,  and  declared  his  conse- 
cration to  be  valid  ;  but  they  did  not  excommunicate 
the  Bishops  who  had  condemned  him  at  Carthage,  or 
who  accused  him  at  Rome  ;  and  they  ordered  that  for 
the  healing  of  the  schism  both  parties  should  hold 
their  Episcopal  dignity,  and  that  in  whatever  Sees 
there  were  two  Bishops  (one  of  one  party,  and  one  of 
the  other),  the  senior  by  consecration  should  be 
Bishop  of  that  See,  and  the  other  should  be  provided 
for  with  a  Bishopric  in  some  other  City.** 

This  Roman  Council  at  which  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
Miltiades,  presided,  appears  to  have  had  little  effect. 
It  settled  nothing,  and  there  was  an  appeal  from  it. 
There  was  no  notion  at  that  thne  that  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  was  Supreme  and  Infallible  Judge  in  matters 
Ecclesiastical. 

^  For  the  history  of  the  Councils  of  Rome,  see  S.  Augustine,  Brevic. 
Coll.  die  3,  c.  12  ;  Epist.  172  ;  Euseb.  x.  5,  with  the  notes  of  Valesius  ; 
Labbe's  Concilia,  i.  1402 — 1407  ;  and  Tillemont.  vi.  31  —44. 


APPEAL   TO  CONSTANTINE— COUNCIL  OF  ARLES.     407 

Caecilian  was  again  accused,  and  again  replied  to 
his  accusers  ;  he  did  not  say  that  "  Rome  had  spoken, 
and  that  the  cause  was  at  an  end,"  but  he  appealed 
to  Constantine,  who,  in  A.D.  314,  ordered  Verinus,  the 
praetorian  Vicar  of  the  Province  of  Africa,  to  examine 
into  the  question  on  the  spot,  which  was  accordingly 
done.  Felix  was  acquitted  ;  Caecilian  was  again 
victorious,  and  his  enemies  were  for  a  time  con- 
founded.^ 

But  this  judicial  sentence  did  not  put  an  end  to  the 
strife ;  and  in  order  to  conciliate  the  Donatists,  who 
desired  that  a  more  numerous  and  authoritative 
Council  should  be  summoned,  and  that  it  might  meet 
in  Gaul,  Constantine  convened  a  Synod,  which  met  at 
Aries  on  August  ist,  A.D.  314.^  This  Council  con- 
sisted of  thirty-three  '  Bishops.  Some  Bishops  (among 
whom  was  Silvester,  Bishop  of  Rome)  sent  Presbyters 
and  Deacons  as  their  delegates. 

There  were  ten  Bishops  from  Gaul,  some  Bishops 
from  Italy  (among  whom  was  a  Bishop  of  Portus 
Romanus),  Sicily,  and  Africa,  and  three  from  Britain, 
whose  names  appear  thus  in  the  subscriptions  to  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  (p.  1430) :  "  Eborius  Episcopus 
de  civitate  Eboracensi  (York)  provincia  Britannice. 
Restitutus  Episcopus  de  civitate  Londinensi  (London) 
provincia  superscripta.  Adelfius  Episcopus  de  civi- 
tate Colonia^  Londinensium  ;  exinde  sacerdos  pres- 


5  S.  Aug.  post  Coll.  c.  33.    Tillemont,  vi.  39—45. 

6  Euseb.  H.  E.  x.  c.  5.  Labbe's  Concilia,  i.  pp.  1422 — 1456. 
Bruns'  Concilia,  ii.  107. 

"i  Some  other  authorities  assign  a  larger  number,  as  many  as  200. 
See  Hefele's  History  of  Councils,  §  15. 

8  Some  suppose  this  to  be  Colchester,  others  Lincoln.  See  Bingham, 
IX.  vi.  20. 


408  CAiVOJVS  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  ARLES. 

byter,  Arminius  diaconus."^  The  Bishops  at  Aries 
examined  the  cause  of  Caecilian,  and  of  Felix,  both  of 
whom  were  acquitted  by  them. 

They  also  enacted  twenty-two  Canons. 

Easter  was  to  be  observed  on  the  same  day 
throughout  the  world  (c.  i),and  not  on  the  fourteenth 
day  of  the  moon_,  according  to  the  Jewish  custom  of 
observing  the  Passover. 

Deacons  were  forbidden  to  consecrate  the  Eucharist 
(c.  15). 

If  a  Bishop  comes  into  a  city  from  another  Diocese,  he 
ought  to  be  invited  to  consecrate  the  Eucharist^  (c.  19). 

No  Bishop  may  consecrate  a  person  to  be  a  Bishop 
without  other  Bishops,  at  least  three,  taking  part  in 
the  Consecration  (c.  20). 

No  Bishop  may  admit  to  communion  any  one  who 
has  been  excommunicated  by  another  Bishop  (c.  16). 

Christian  Magistrates  passing  from  one  province  to 
another  ought  to  take  commendatory  letters  with  them. 
If  they  do  anything  contrary  to  Ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline, they  are  to  be  repelled  from  communion 
(c.  7). 

The  following  Canons  relate  to  the  Donatistic 
Schism,  in  which  re-baptization  was  practised. 

"  Concerning  those  of  Africa  who  re-baptize,  by  a 
peculiar  law  of  their  own,  the  Council  ordered,  that 
if  any  one  returns  from  heresy  to  the  Church,  let 
him  be  asked  his  creed  (symbolum) ;  and  if  it  appears 
that  he  has  been  baptized  in  the  Name  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  let  him  only  be  admitted  to  the 

^  The  Bishop  of  Aries,  Marinus,  presided  at  the  Council. 

1  As  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  had  been  invited  by  Anicetus, 
Bishop  of  Rome,  though  differing  from  him  as  to  the  time  of  the  ob- 
servance of  Easter  (S.  Iren.;  cp.  Euseb.  v.  24). 


ANOTHER  APPEAL  TO  CONSTANTINE..  409 

laying  on  of  hand?,  that  he  may  receive  the  Holy 
Ghost  ;  but  if  he  has  not  been  baptized  in  the  Name 
of  the  Trinity,  let  him  be  baptized  "  (c.  8  ;  cp.  c.  28). 

"  They  (i.  e.  the  Traditores)  who  have  been  found 
guilty  by  legal  process  of  having  given  up  the  holy 
books  or  holy  vessels  (i.  e.  to  heathen  persecutors),  or 
the  names  of  their  brethren,  let  them  be  deposed  from 
the  order  of  the  Clergy  ;  but  if  they  are  found  to 
have  taken  part  in  conferring  holy  orders  on  any 
persons  who  are  blameless,  let  not  any  such  ordi- 
nation be  a  prejudice  to  those  who  have  been 
ordained  by  them  (c.  13). 

"  False  witnesses  against  their  brethren  are  to  be 
removed  from  communion  till  the  time  of  their  death 
(c.  14). 

'*  They  who  have  convicted  their  wives  of  adultery, 

and  are  young  and   faithful,  and  forbidden  to  marry 

.  another,  are  to  be  exhorted,  as  far  as  may  be,  not  to 

take   another  wife  during  the  lifetime  of  the   other, 

although  she  be  guilty  of  adultery"  (c.  10). 

This,  says  Fleury/  is  the  advice  of  the  Church. 
The  law  of  the  State  allowed  a  second  marriage  in 
such  cases  after  a  divorce. 

The  Council  sent  its  decrees  to  Pope  Silvester,  "  in 
order  that  all  might  know  what  those  decrees  were," 
— but  not  to  wait  for  his  approval  before  they  were 
promulged. 

Some  of  the  Donatists  submitted  to  the  decrees  of 
this  Council,  and  returned  to  the  unity  of  the  Church. 

Others  appealed   from  it  to  Constantine  in  person. 

Having   summoned    the   litigants,    first   to   Rome  in 

A.D.  315,  and  afterwards   to  Milan  in  November,  A.D. 

316,  he  acquitted  Caecilian,  and  condemned  his  oppo- 

2  iii.  43. 


410  .  •     COUNCIL  OF  ANCYRA. 

nents,   and   banished  their  ringleaders,  and  deprived 
them  of  their  Churches.^ 

These  measures,  however,  were  not  effectual.  A 
new  leader  of  the  Donatists  arose  in  Donatus,  the 
second  of  that  name,  the  successor  of  Majorinus  the 
schismatical  Bishop  of  Carthage,  a  man  of  a  haughty 
and  violent  temper,  and  of  indomitable  energy,  who 
became  the  idol  of  his  party.  He  limited  the  efficacy 
of  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  to  his  own  sect,  and  held 
erroneous  opinions  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  in 
which  he  taught  that  the  Son  was  less  than  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  less  than  the  Son."* 

The  development  of  these  tenets  belongs,  however, 
to  a  later  period  of  the  history.  Let  us  return  to  the 
year  314,  in  which  two  other  Councils  were  held. 

One  was  that  of  Ancyra,  Metropolis  of  Galatia,  of 
which  Marcellus  was  Bishop  ;  with  him  were  assembled 
seventeen  other  Bishops,  principally  from  Asia  Minor- 
and  Palestine.     Its  canons  are  in  Greek. 

The  first  portion  of  the  Canons  of  this  Council^ 
refers  to  those  Priests  and  Deacons  and  Laymen  who 
had  lapsed  in  the  preceding  time  of  persecution,  by 
idolatry  or  apostasy  from  the  faith  (c.  i — 9  and  12). 

The  words  by  which  the  functions  of  priests  and 
deacons  are  described  deserve  notice.  The  priests  are 
said  irpoac^epeiv  (to  offer)  and  oiiCKelv  (to  preach)  ;  the 
deacons,  dprov  rj  TroTr/pLov  ava<^epeLv  (to  present  the 
bread  or  cup),  and  Krjpvaaeiv,  which  seems  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  ofMiXeiv. 

'•^  See  Augustine,  Brevic.  Coll.  d.  3,  c.  19  ;  Epist.  88,  162  ;  in  Parmen. 
i.  c.  II  ;  Labbe,  i.  1407  ;  Fleury,  iii.  51  ;  Tillemont,  vi.  55. 

•*  S.  Aug,  Hjeres.  69.  On  this  history  see  Optatus,  i.  p.  45  ;  iii. 
p.  64  ;  S.  Jerome,  Scr.  Eccl.  93. 

5  For  these  Canons,  see  Labbe's  Concilia,  i.  pp.  1455 — 1475.  Bruns' 
Concilia,  i.  66. 


CANONS  OF  ANCYRA.  411 

If    deacons    at    their    ordination    announce    their 
intention  of  marrying,  they  may  be  permitted  by  the  • 
Bishop    to    do    so  ;    but  if   they    marry  after    being 
ordained,  without  having  made  such  a  protestation, 
they  are  to  be  deprived  (c.  lo). 

Chorepiscopi   (or  rural   Bishops)    may   not    ordain 
.priests   or  deacons,  nor  even  ordain  priests  of  a  city 
without  a  written  commission  from  the  Bishop  (of  the 
City)  in  each  Diocese  (c.  13).^ 

Priests  or  deacons  who  abstain  from  eating  flesh, 
are  commanded  at  least  to  taste  it  ;  and  if  they 
refuse  to  do  so,  they  are  to  be  deprived  (c.  14). 

They  who  violate  their  promise  of  celibacy  are  to 
be  treated  as  digamists  (c.  19). 

Whoever  commits  adultery,  or  allows  his  wife  to 
do  so,  is  condemned  to  seven  years'  penance,  and 
after  that  maybe  admitted  to  Holy  Communion  (c.  20)."' 

Women  who  fall  into  sin,  and  cause  abortion,  are 
condemned  to  penance  for  ten  years.  This,  says  the 
Canon,  is  a  relaxation  of  the  ancient  discipline,  which 
did  not  receive  them  to  communion  till  the  time  of 
death  (c.  21). 

^  aXKa  liiride.  Being  in  the  a'iy,  he  might  be  pTesumed  to  be  acting 
under,  the  eye  of  the  Diocesan  Bishop,  and  in  his  stead,  but  even  there 
l>e  must  have  a  commission  in  luriiing  :  much  less  may  he  ordain  in  the 
country  without  such  a  commission.  The  variations  in  the  old  Latin 
Versions  of  this  canon  seem  to  show  that  the  original  Greek  text 
is  not  in  a  sound  state.  On  this  Canon  see  above  (p.  46);  cp.  Canon  10 
of  the  Council  of  Antioch,  a.d.  341,  where  it  is  ordered  that  a 
Chorepiscopus  may  not  presume  to  ordain  a  priest  or  deacon,  but 
only  readers  and  sub-deacons  and  exorcists,  without  the  permission  of 
the  Bishop  of  the  City  to  whom  the  Chorepiscopus  and  his  x^P^-  (or 
district)  are  subject.     Cp.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  57. 

'  Gr.  t5  reXeiou,  i.  e.  the  spiritual  consummation — that  which  is 
perfect  zxvdi  perfective ;  i.e.  the  Holy  Eucharist.  See  Casaubon,  Exerc. 
Baron,  xvi.  48  ;  Suicer,  Lex.  p.  1259.  So  in  Can.  41.  Here  eA^etf  in\  rh 
TeAetoj',  to  come  to  Holy  Communion. 


412     CAA'OiVS  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  NeO-C^SAREA. 

Murderers  are  not  to  be  admitted  to  communion 
•  till  the  end  of  their  lives.     Involuntary  homicide  is 
punished  by  penance  for  five  years  ;  according  to  the 
ancient  discipline,  it  was  for  seven  (c.  22,  23). 

They  who  resort  to  diviners  and  follow  the  customs 
of  times/  or  introduce  persons  into  their  house  for  the 
discovery  of  witchcrafts,  or  for  lustration  (or  purifica- . 
tion)  from  them,  are  to  be  suspended  for  five  years  ; 
three  years  of  (Ecclesiastical)  prostration,  and  two  of 
abstention  from  the  oblation  (of  the  Eucharist ;  c.  24). 

The  Council  of  Neo-Cczsarea  in  Pontus  (the  see 
which  had  been  occupied  by  Gregory' Thaumaturgus 
about  fifty  years  before)  was  held  soon  after  that  of 
Ancyra  ;  probably  in  the  same  year,  A.D.  3  \\?  It  con- 
sisted of  about  eighteen  Bi'shops,  many  of  whom  had 
been  present  at  Ancyra  ;  most  of  them  were  of  Asia 
Minor.  The  discipline  of  this  Council  is  remarkable 
for  its  strictness.     Its  canons  are  in  Greek. 

If  a  priest  marries,  he  is  to  be  deposed  ;  if  he  com- 
mits fornication  or  adultery,  he  is  to  be  excommuni- 
cated (c.  i). 

A  layman  whose  wife  is  guilty  of  adultery  cannot 
be  ordained.  If  she  is  guilty  of  this  crime  after  his 
ordination  {yeipoTovia),  he  must  put  her  away,  or  cease 
from  his  ministry  (c.  8). 

There  are  two  rigorous  Canons  against  Priests  and 
Deacons  who  have  been  guilty  of  carnal  sin  before 
ordination  (c.  9,  10).  Other  sins  (it  is  added)  are  sup- 
posed by  some  to  be  remitted  by  laying  on  of  hands 
[y€.ipoQeGLOi)  in  ordination. 

No  one,  however  worthy.  Is  to  be  ordained  Priest 

^  Another  reading  here  is  "heathens"  for  "times;"  but  it  may- 
mean  superstitious  observances  of  times  and  seasons. 

9  Its' Canons  are  in  Labbe,  Concil.  i.  1479— 1490  ;  Bruns,  i.  71. 


APOSTOLIC  CANONS  AND  CONSTITUTIONS.        413 

before    thirty  years   of  age  ;    that  being  the  age  at 
which  our  Lord  was  baptized  (c.  ii). 

Whoever  has  received  clinical  baptism,  i.  e.  been 
baptized  {(f>a)T  La  Of}),  in  time  of  dangerous  sickness, 
cannot  afterwards  be  ordained  priest,  because  he  seems 
to  have  accepted  baptism  under  the  influence  of  fear  ; 
but  there  may  be  exceptions  to  this  rule  (c.  12). 

Country  Priests  may  not  consecrate  the  Eucharist 
in  the  Church  of  a  City  in  the  presence  of  the  Bishop 
or  Priests  of  the  City ;  nor  minister  the  bread  or  cup 

(C.13). 

Country  Bishops   are  according  to  the  pattern  of 

the  seventy  disciples.  There  ought  to  be  seven  deacons 

in  a  city,  whatever  its  size,  according  to  the  pattern  in 

the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (c.  14,  15). 

A  woman,  if  she  marries  two  brothers,  is  to  be  ex- 
communicated till  the  tim.e  of  death.  If  in  the  pro- 
spect of  death  she  promises  that  she  will  dissolve  the 
marriage,  she  may  in  mercy  be  received  ;  but  if  either 
the  man .  or  woman  who  has  contracted  this  marriage 
dies,  such  reception  can  hardly  be  granted  to  the 
survivor  (c.  2). 

A  pregnant  woman  may  be  baptized  whenever  she 
will  ;  but  her  child  is  afterwards  to  be  baptized  sepa- 
rately (c.  6). 

Let  not  a  Priest  go  to  the  Marriage  Feast  .of 
Digamists;  for  how  can  he  afterwards  give- absolu- 
tion to  them,  if  he  has  thus  connived  at  their  mar- 
riage ?  (c.  7.) 

Here  are  clear  signs  of  a  Montanistic  bias. 

In  a  review  of  Ante-Nicene  Councils,  some  refer- 
ence ought  to  be  made  to  what  are  commonly  called 
the  Apostolic  Canons,  and  Apostolic  Constitutions. 

The  Canons  of  the  Apostles,  as  they  are  termed,  are 


414  APOSTOLIC  CANONS. 

eighty-four  in  number.^  Some  learned  writers,  such 
as  Bishop  Pearson  (Vind.  Ignat.  i.  4)  and  Beveridge 
(Judicium  in  Coteler.  i.  pp.  432 — 441),  though  not 
ascribing  them  to  Apostles,  yet  were  of  opinion  that 
they  represented  Apostolic  customs,  and  were  framed 
in  the  second  or  third  centuries,  and  were  certainly 
Ante-Nicene.  But  more  recent  investigations  of  other 
learned  men,  especially  of  Von  Drey  and  Bickell,  have 
led  to  the  conclusion  that  they  belong  to  a  later  age. 
The  almost  total  absence  of  reference  to  idolatrous 
practice,  and  to  the  question  what  was  to  be  then 
done  with  those  who  had  lapsed  in  persecution,  ap- 
pears to  point  to  a  time  when  the  Church  was  settled 
in  peace.  Many  also  of  the  Canons  seem  to  have  been 
formed  on  Nicene  Legislation.'  Canon  XXX.  on  a 
presbyter  separating  from  a  Bishop  "  who  is  pious 
and  righteous  "  is  certainly  not  Apostolic,  but  savours 
of  Novatianism  or  Donatism  ;  and  Canon  XLV., 
which  condemns  heretical,  baptism,  and  which -pro- 
nounces sentence  of  deprivation  on  a  Bishop  who  does 
not  baptize  one  who  has  been  polluted  by  (the  baptism 
of)  the  ungodly,  and  does  not  distinguish  true  priests 
from  false,  may  be  a  reproduction  of  some  of  the 
decrees  of  Councils  of  Carthage  under  Cyprian,  but 
could  have  no  catholic  authority. 

If  these  Canons  had  existed  in  the  times  of  Cyprian 

1  They  may  be  seen  in  Labbe's  Concilia,  torn.  i.  pp.  25 — 53  ; 
Cotelerii Patres  Apostolici,  i.  pp.  442 — 454  ;.Bruns'  Concilia,  pp.  2 — 13. 

The  earliest  extant  collection  of  them,  or  rather  of  fifty  of  them, 
appears  to  be  that  of  Dionysius  Exiguus  (circ.  A.  D.  506),  by  whom  they 
are  described  as  "  Canones  qui  dicuntur  Apostolorum,  quibus  pluriini 
non  facilem  prcebuere  conse?isuJ?i." 

2  E.g.  Canon  I.  compared  with  Canon  IV.  of  Nicaea,  on  the  Conse- 
cration of  Bishops  ;  and  Canon  VIT.  as  to  the  observance  of  Easter,  and 
Canons  XXL— XXIV.  on  self-mutilation,  compared  with  Canon  I.  of 
Nicaea.  The  references  are  to  the  numbers  of  the  Canons  in  Bruns' 
Concilia. 


APOSTOLIC  CANONS.  415 

and  Firmilian,  they  would  certainly  have  been  cited 
by  them  on  behalf  of  their  own  opinions. 

Canons  XXIX.  and  LXXX.  '  clearly  belong  to 
times  when  the  Empire  was  Christian. 

A  direct  claim  is  made  in  some  of  them  to  Apos- 
tolic authority,  e.  g.  in  Canon  XXXVIlI.,in  the  words 
"  of  me,  Peter  ;"  and  in  LXXXIV.,  "  of  us,  the  Apos- 
tles ;"  LXXXI.,  "me,  Clement,"  "our  Onesimus," 
which,  taken  together  with  clear  evidences  of  post- 
Apostolic  origin^  suggest  the  suspicion  that  the  framers 
of  some  of  them  did  not  scruple  to  attempt  to  im- 
pose their  own  opinions  on  others  by  spurious  counter- 
feits commended  by  venerable  names.  '  They  are  not 
regarded  as  Apostolic  by  the  Roman  Church  ;  but 
having  been  cited  in  the  Ouinisext  Council,  or  the 
Council  of  Trullo,  A.D.  692,  they  appear  to  be  received 
by  the  Greek  Church. 

There  is  a  remarkable  resemblance  ^  between  some 
of  the  first  fifty  of  these  Canons  and  those  of  the 
Council  of  Antioch,  A.D.  341 .  Some  writers,  as  Bishop 
.Beveridge,  suppose  that  the  Council  adopted  them  as 
already  valid  ;  while  others  with  more  probability  are 
of  opinion  that  they  are  partly  derived  from  that 
Council.  If  about  twenty  Canons  (and  so  many  of 
the  so-called  Apostolic  Canons  appear  in  substance 
in  the  Antiochene  Code)  had  been  authorized  by 
Apostolic  or  very  early  authority,  the  Council  would 
have  appealed  explicitly  to  that  authority  in  support 
of  its  own  legislation. 

On  the  whole  then,  though  it  is  probable  that  some 
ancient  ore  may  be  mingled  in  them  with  more  recent 
dross,  yet  the  process  of  smelting  the  one  from  the  other 

^  Which  may  be  seen  marked  in  the  margin  of  Labbe's  Concilia,  i. 
pp.  48—51- 


416        APOSTOLIC  CONSTITUTIONS— COUNCIL   OF 
LAODICEA. 

is  too  difficult  to  warrant  any  appeal  to  these  Canons 

as  authoritative  documents. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  much  larger  work 
entitled  TJie  Apostolic  Constitutions,  consisting  of  eight 
books.'*  • 

The  Council  in  Trullo  at  Constantinople,  in  its 
second  Canon  (A.D.  692),  while  it  received  the  so- 
called  Apostolic  Canons,  rejected  the  Apostolic  hia- 
Tafet9,  or  Constitutions,  as  having  been  interpolated  by 
heterodox  persons,  and  as  therefore  not  trustworthy  ; 
but  at  the  same  time,  in  the  same  Canon,  it  implies 
that  there  are  many  things  in  them  which  are  en- 
titled to  reverential  acceptance.  Among  these  some 
of  the  most  interesting  materials  are  contained  in  the 
eighth  book,  which  has  been  ascribed"  to  S.  Hippoly- 
tus,  and  which  is  a  Manual  of  regulations  concerning 
ordination  and  spiritual  gifts. 

The  Council  of  Laodicea  is  supposed  by  some  to 
have  been  held  soon  after  that  of  Neo-Caesarea,®  but 
from  internal  and  external  evidence  it  appears  to 
have  been  half  a  century  later. 

The  Canons  of  the  Ante-Nicene  Councils  which  we 
have  been  considering,  supply  interesting  records  of 
ancient  Church  life  and  government,  but  we  should 
fall  into  error  were  we  to  imagine  that  Canons  con- 
cerning discipline  and  ritual,  especially  such  as  were 

"*  They  may  be  seen  in  Labbe's  Concilia,  i.  191 — 511  ;  and  Patres 
Apostolici,  Coteler.  i.  200 — 428. 

5  By  Bunsen,  "  Christianity  and  Mankind,"  ii.  p.  412,  and  partly  by 
others  mentioned  in  my  work  on  S.  Hippolytus,  pp.  143,  .  144,  235, 
236. 

6  It  is  placed  *' sub  Silvestro,"  p.  1497,  in  Labbe's  Concilia,  and 
73  ed.  Bruns  ;  but  it  belongs  to  a  later  age  ;  see  Concil.  Quinisext. 
can.  2,  where  it  is  place'd  after  that  of  Gangra,  A.D.  362,  and  before 
Constantinople,  A.D.  381. 


GENERAL  REMARKS  ON  CANONS  OF  COUNCILS;  417 
AS  TO  DOCTRINE,  AND  RITUAL. 

enacted  by  Councils  of  a  few  Bishops  of  a  particular 
district,  and  which  never  were  universally  received 
by  the  Church,  were  in  any  way  to  be  placed  on  the 
same  footing  as  those  which  were  promulgated  on 
articles  oi  faith  and  doctrine  by  General  Cowicils,  such 
as  that  of  Nicaea,  and  have  been  sanctioned  by 
subsequent  reception  of  the  whole  Church.  The 
former  were  alterable,  and  have  been  altered  ; '  the 
latter  have  remained— and  will  ever  remain — un- 
changeable.^ In  the  words  of  Richard  Hooker  (V. 
viii.  2),  "  The  Church  hath  authority  to  establish 
that  for  an  order  at  one  time  which  at  another  time  it 
may  abolish,  and  in  both  it  may  do  well.  But  that 
which  in  doctrine  the  Church  doth  now  deliver  rightly 
as  a  truth,  no  man  will  say  that  it  may  hereafter  re- 
call, and  as  rightly  avouch  the  contrary.  Laws  touch- 
ing matter  of  order  are  changeable  by  the  power  of  the 
Church  ;  articles  concerning  doctrine  not  so."  The 
wisdom  of  the  Church,  guided  by  reason  and  experi- 
ence, and  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  exercised 
from  time  to  time  in  carefully  reviewing,  and  it  may 
.be  in  discreetly  amending,  the  former,  according  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  times,  and  in  steadfastly  main- 
taining the  latter.  And  while  in  matters  of  faith 
no  national  or  particular  Church  can  alter  any  article 
which  has  been  received  by  the  Church  Universal 
every  particular  or  national  Church  hath  authority  to 
change  and  abolish  ceremonies  or  rites  of  the  Church 

7  This  may  be  illustrated  by  the  variation  in  Law  and  Practice  as  to 
second  Marriages,  and  the  Marriage  of  the  Clergy.  See  the  evidence 
of  this  in  Bingham's  Eccl.  Antiquities,  IV.  c.  v.  vol.  1.  pp.  381 — 390; 
xvi.  II  and  xxii.  I. 

^  On  the  mutability  of  Laws,  except  those  which  are  essential  for  the 
attainment  of  such  ends  as  are  of  universal  and  perpetual  importance 
and  necessity,  see  Hooker,  IIL  x. ,  especially  §  7. 

E  e 


418    VARIE  TV  IN  RITES  AND  CEREMONIES  COMMENDS 
AND  DISPLA  YS  UNITY  IN  FAITH. 

ordained  only  by  man's  authority  (and  not  of  divine 
institution,  such  as  the  Holy  Sacraments,  Confirma- 
tion, Three  Orders  of  Christian  Ministers),  so  that 
all  things  be  done  to  God's  glory,  and  the  edifying  of 
His  people,  and  with  due  reverence  to  Antiquity.^  It 
is  even  profitable  that  there  should  be  some  varieties 
of  rites  and  ceremonies  in  different  Churches,  inas- 
much as,  to  quote  the  words  of  Irenaius,^  these  varieties 
as  to  7'iUial  in  different  Churches  bring  out  in  clearer 
light  the  tinity  of  that  faith,  which  ought  to  be  main- 
tained inviolate  by  all  Churches  alike.^ 

9  See  the  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  Art.  XXXV.  Hooker, 
V.  viii,  2 — 5  ;  Ixxi.  7. 

1  See  note,  p.  254. 

2  S.  IrenDeus  ap.  Euseb.  v.  2.  The  Siacfxvvia  of  ceremonies  T7V 
hfjLovoiav  TTjs  iriaTeais  (Tvui(rTV(n.  On  this  point  see  the  wise  counsels  of  S. 
Augustine  in  his  Epist.  ad  Januarium,  liv.   torn,  ii.  p.  186,  ed.  Gaume. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

TJie  Struggle  of  the  CJwrcJi  zuit/i  Ariaiiisni — Arius ; 
Constantine ;  Hositts,  Bishop  of  Cordiiba ;  Con- 
stantia  ;  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia  ;  Eiisebius^ 
Bishop  of  Ccesarea ;  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alex- 
andria ;  A  thanasius ;  A  nthony,  the  Founder  of 
Monasticism ;  the  Council  of  Niccea ;  the  Nicene 
Creed  and  Nicene  Canons, 

When  Constantine  had  conquered  Liclnius  at 
Adrianople  on  July  3rd,  in  the  year  323,  and  when 
Licinius  was  dead,  in  A.D.  324,  and  a  Christian  Ruler 
was  seated  on  the  throne  of  the  World,  the  Church, 
after  a  series  of  persecutions,  which  had  tried  her  faith 
for  250  years,  seemed  to  have  at  last  a  breathing-time. 
She  was  free  from  external  assaults,  and  hoped  for  a 
season  of  peace. 

A  much  severer  conflict,  however^  now  awaited  her 
from  within  ;  but  that  conflict,  like  her  sufferings  in 
persecution,  was  controlled  and  overruled  by.  the  good- 
ness of  God  for  a  noble  victory, — a  victory  much  more 
glorious  and  far  more  permanent  in  its  results  than 
any  she  had  hitherto  achieved. 

When  Arianisrn  first  appeared  at  Alexandria,  there 
seemed  to  be  many  probabilities  in  favour  of  its 
success. 

Its  author,  Arius,  held  a  high  position  as  priest  of 
E  e  2 


420  ARIUS. 

an  important  parish  in  that  City.  He  had  been 
trained  under  Lucian  of  Antioch.  He  had,  it  is  said, 
aspired  to  the  Archiepiscopal  throne  (Theodoret, 
Hist.  i.  I,  2  ;  Haeret.  Fab.  iv.  i)^  to  which  Alexander 
succeeded,  A.D.  313.  He  was  skilled  in  dialectics. 
His  moral  character  was  unblemished ;  his  bodily 
presence  was  dignified  ;  he  was  tall  in  stature,  and  his 
address  and  deportment  were  winning  and  attractive  ; 
his  speech  calm,  measured,  and  persuasive.  He  wore 
a  monastic  garb,  and  had  gained  a  reputation  for  piety 
and  holiness  by  rigid  self-denial  and  asceticism ;  and  he 
not  only  allured  a  number  of  disciples  from  among 
the  clergy  and  laity,  among  matrons  and  young 
women,  but  he  could  reckon  among  his  friends  and 
allies  some  of  the  foremost  Bishops  of  the  Church, 
who  enjoyed  imperial  favour  ;  especially  Eusebius, 
Bishop  of  the  royal  city  of  Nicomedia^  the  metropohs 
of  Bithynia  ;  and  the  most  learned  Ecclesiastic  of  his 
age,  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Csesarea  ^  in  Palestine,  after- 
wards justly  celebrated  as  the  first  Historian  of  the 
Church. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Constantia,  widow  of  Licinius, 
and  the  favourite  sister  of  Constantine,  who  resided 
at  Nicomedia,  was  prepossessed  on  his  behalf,  and 
continued  her  protection  to  him.  In  the  year  327,  two 
years  after  Arius  had  been  condemned  by  the  Council 
of  Nicaea,  and  had  been  banished  by  Constantine, 
Constantia  on  her  deach-bed  earnestly  recommended 
Arius  to  his  favour  (Philostorg.  i.  8,  9). 

At  the  beginning  of  the  struggle  with  his  Bishop 

Alexander,  the  Emperor  was  not  opposed  to  Arius. 

Constantine,  having  subdued  his  enemies,  wished  to 

unite  his  subjects  under  a  peaceful  and  paternal  sway. 

1  See  Theodoret,  Hist.  i.  3 — 5. 


CONSTANTLYE.  421 

He  regarded  the  God  of  the  Christians  with  reveren- 
tial awe  and  gratitude,  as  having  granted  success  to 
his  arms,  and  he  was  desirous  of  establishing  Chris- 
tianity as  the  national  religion  of  the  Empire.  But  he 
was  only  a  neophyte.  Perhaps  he  might  be  called  at 
that  time  a  Christian  theist.  He  had  not  received 
Baptism,  and  though  he  greatly  preferred  the  belief 
and  worship  of  the  Church  to  that  of  any  form  of 
Paganism,  yet  he  was  very  imperfectly  schooled  in 
the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  Faith.  He  was  weary 
of  war,  and  the  victories  to  which  he  now  aspired 
were  the  conquests  of  peace.  He  wrote  letters  to  the 
contending  parties,  Alexander  the  Bishop  of  Alexan- 
dria, and  Arius  the  presbyter  of  that  city,  in  which  he 
expressed  the  deep  sorrow  that  their  disputes  had 
caused  him,  and  in  which  he  earnestly  entreated  them 
to  lay  aside  their  strife,  and  to  live  as  brethren  in 
peace.  He  told  them  that  the  matters  on  which  they 
were  contending  were  supernatural  heavenly  mysteries 
which  no  human  intellect  could  fathom ;  and  he 
assured  them,  that  though  they  differed  from  one 
another  in  words,  yet  they  were  agreed  in  substance  ; 
and  he  also  expressed  his  opinion  that  the  questions 
about  which  they  contended  were  trivial  and  frivolous 
{kXay^iarai  t;r]Tr]Geii) ,  and  did  not  deserve  to  be 
debated  with  so  much  earnestness  and  warmth.  He 
wished  to  hush  up  the  controversy,  and  to  bring  about 
a  truce.  The  authority  of  the  Emperor  of  the  Roman 
World,  who  had  rescued  the  Church  from  the  grasp 
of  her  persecutors,  and  had  enriched  her  with  princely 
favours  and  secular  privileges,  and  was  entitled  to  her 
fervent  gratitude,  was  exerted  against  a  conflict  for  the 
Faith,  and  in  favour  of  concessions  and  compromises 
of  Christian  doctrine  for  the  sake  of  peace. 


422        HOSIUS  OF  CORDUB A— CHARACTERISTICS 
OF  ARIANISM. 

Still  further,  in  those  Imperial  expostulations  and  ex- 
hortations Constantine  was  supported  by  the  authority 
of  some  of  the  most  venerable  Prelates  of  the  Church. 
Hosius  of  Corduba,  the  capital  of  Spain,  who  had  been 
a  Confessor  in  Persecution,  and  was  revered  for  his 
age,  learning,  and  piety,  and  who  afterwards  took  a 
leading  part  in  the  Council  of  Nicsea,  was  selected 
to  be  the  envoy  by  whose  hands  the  imperial  ireni- 
c?iin  was  to  be  conveyed  to  Alexander  and  Arius  at 
Alexandria,  and  he  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  at 
that  time  a  consentient  party  to  its  contents,  if  not  a 
contributor  to  them. 

There  appeared  to  be  also  much  that  was  specious 
and  alluring  in  Arianism  itself.  It  studiously  shunned 
an  approach  to  the  bolder  heretical  dogmas,  which  had 
shocked  the  faith  of  Christendom.  It  avoided  the 
Dualism  of  Marcion  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Valen- 
tinian  theories  of  Emanationism  on  the  other.  It 
would  not  associate  itself  with  any  direct  denial  of 
the  Divinity  of  Christ,  such  as  had  characterized  the 
outspoken  heresies  of  Cerinthus,  Ebion,  or  of  Paul  of 
Samosata.  It  professed  strong  repugnance  to  Sabel- 
lianism.  It  claimed  to  be  a  safeguard  of  Monotheism 
against  Paganism.  It  condemned  Pantheism.  It 
distinguished  the  Creation  from  the  Creator.  It  pro- 
fessed reverence  for  Holy  Scripture/  and  for  the 
traditions  of  the  Catholic  Church.  It  disclaimed 
novelty,  and  charged  its  opponents  with  heresy,  and 
even  with  blasphemy.  In  a  word,  it  was  a  new  attempt  ^ 
to    combine  the    doctrine  of  the  Divine  Unity  with 

2  The  principal  texts  to  which  it  appealed  were  Prov.  viii.  22  ; 
Matt.  xix.  17  ;  Mark  xiii.  31  ;  John  v.  19  ;  xiv.  28  ;  I  Cor.  xv.  28. 

5  The  novelty  of  Arianism  is  asserted  by  Sozomen,  Hist.  i.  15,  who 
says  that  '"no  one  before  in  the  Church  had  ever  taught  it;"  and  by 
Athanas.  de  Decret.  Nic.  27,  who  calls  them   '*  new  Jews." 


ALEXANDER,  BISHOP  OF  ALEXANDRIA.  423 

that  of  a  distinct  hypostasis  in  the  Son  of  God,  Whom 
it  professed  to  acknowledge  as  made  in  the  Hkeness 
of  the  Logos  and  Wisdom  of  God,  and  as  Creator  of 
the  World,  and  to  Whom  it  conceded  the  titles  of  Son 
of  God,  and  of  complete  God  {irXi]pr]<^  6eo<^)y  and  of  the 
only-begotten  Son  of  God. 

Arianism  claimed  also  the  merit,  which  in  a  learned 
City  hke  Alexandria  was  no  slight  one,  of  conciliating 
Greek  Philosophy,  and  of  attracting  it  to  Christianity. 
It  asserted  a  power  to  explain  the  profoundest 
mysteries"'  of  the  faith.  It  appealed  to  human  Reason, 
and  magnified  the  claims  of  Logic  and  Metaphysics, 
and  professed  to  enlist  them  in  the  service  of 
Religion  and  the  Church. 

The  Bishop  of  Alexandria  himself  seems  at  first  to 
have  been  perplexed  and  staggered,  and  at  one  time 
to  have  praised  one  party,  and  at  another  to  have 
lauded  their  opponents  (Sozomen,  i.  15). 

Probably  an  ordinary  observer  of  the  phenomena  of 
the  times,  and  arguing  from  mere  human  considera- 
tions, would  have  foretold  that  Arianism  would  have 
become  the  Creed  of  the  Church ;  and  many  pious 
and  amiable  men,  lovers  of  peace  and  popularity, 
but  not  versed  in  theological  science,  and  not  able  to 
discern  the  real  questions  at  issue,  or  to  foresee  the 
logical  consequences  of  the  Arian  heresy,  would  not 
have  thought  that  any  great  stir  ought  to  have  been 
made  about  it,  or  that  any  great  harni  would  have  been 

4  S.  Athanasius  protests  against  the  attempt  of  Arianism  to  eliminate 
mysteries  from  Christianity.  See  Hom.  in  Matth.  xi.  22,  and  Hooker 
says  (V.  lii.),  with  his  usual  sagacity,  "  Whereas  this  Divine  mystery  of 
the  Incarnation  is  more  true  than  plain,  divers  persons  (the  Arians,  &c. ) 
having  framed  the  same  to  their. own  fancies  are  found  in  their  exposi- 
tions  thereof  to  be  more  plain  than  true.  The  strength  of  our  faith  is 
tried  by  those  things  in  which  our  wits  and  capacities  are  not  strong." 


424  ATHANASIUS. 

done  to  the  Church,  if  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alex- 
andria, had  listened  to  the  appeal  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine,  influenced,  as  we  have  seen,  by  important 
political  considerations,  and  backed  by  powerful 
Ecclesiastical  allies  and  advisers,  and  had  desisted 
from  conflict  with  Arius,  and  had  allowed  him  to 
remain  unmolested  in  the  communion  of  the  Church, 
and  had  given  him  free  licence  to  preach.  Even 
at  the  present  day  some  writers  on  Church  History 
seem  to  be  of  the  same  opinion  ;  and  it  would  be  a 
searching  question  for  Bishops  and  Priests  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  to  consider,  how  they  themselves  would 
have  acted  under  such  circumstances. 

But  there  was  a  man  in  Alexandria  at  that  time, 
who  had  been  nurtured  by  Alexander  as  a  spiritual 
son  in  the  faith,  and  who  held  a  position  in  the  Church 
immediately  under  him  as  his  Archdeacon,  and  who 
was  endowed  with  singular  gifts  of  holiness  and 
wisdom,  and  with  profound  learning  drawn  from  Holy 
Scripture  and  from  Catholic  tradition,  and  also  from 
secular  philosophy  ;  a  man  of  masculine  intellectual 
vigour,  clearness  of  perception,  and  logical  acumen, 
and  also  gifted  by  the  Holy  Spirit  with  the  moral 
qualities  of  indomitable  perseverance,  patience,  con- 
stancy, and  courage  in  defending  the  faith,  and  who 
united  (as  S.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus  expresses  it) 
masfnetic    attractiveness   with   adamantine  firmness.^ 


"  See  the  eloquent  tribute  to  Athanasius  in  S.  Gregory  Nazianzen's 
Oratiori,  in  his  Orat  xxi.  pp.  386 — 411,  ed,  Paris.  1778,  and  in  Hooker, 
V.  xlii.  It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  quotations  from  Anglican  Divines, 
such  as  Hooker,  Bishop  Andrewes,  Bishop  Pearson,  and  Bishop  Bull, 
and  Dr.  Waterland,  testifying  to  the  work  of  Athanasius  as  under  God  the 
defender  and  preserver  of  the  faith.  To  their  testimonies  may  be  added 
the  words  of  such  authors  as  Neander  and  Dorner.  The  former  says 
(iv.  51),  "On  the  holding  fast  the  hojnoousioji  depended  in  his  view  the 


ATHANASIUS  AND  CONSTANTINE.  425 

This  was  Athanasius,  who  was  raised  up  at  that  critical 
time,  and  continued,  through  good  report  and  evil 
report,  to  strive  earnestly  for  the  Faith,  which  he  was 
in  God's  hands  a  chief  instrument  in  establishing  at 
the  Council  of  Nicsea,  and  in  maintaining  for  nearly 
half  a  century  after  it. 

Constantine's  victory  over  her  heathen  enemies 
would  have  been  of  little  use  to  the  Church,  if  she 
had  not  had  an  Athanasius  to  protect  her  against 
the  more  dangerous  assaults  of  Arianism. 

In  contemplating  the  life  of  Athanasius,  we  should 
not  duly  appreciate  the  wonderful  power  of  divine 
grace,  showing  itself  in  his  courage  and  firmness,  un- 
less we  took  into   account  the  character  of  the  age 

whole  unity  of  the  Christian  consciousness  of  God,  the  completeness  of 
the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  the  reality  of  the  redemption  which 
Christ  wrought,  and  of  the  Communion  of  God  restored  by  Him  to 
Man ;"  and  that  this  was  a  true  view  is  clearly  shown  by  Dorner  on  the 
Person  of  Christ,  Div.  i.  vol.  ii.  pp.  248 — 260,  304.  To  cite  on 
sentence,  "The  vital  centre  of  Christianity  (says  Dorner,  p.  248)  i 
grasped  by  Athanasius  with  such  intense  fervour,  and  is  treated  in  such 
'a  scientific  spirit,  that  it  gives  us  the  groundwork  of  a  grand  system  of 
speculative  theology."  And  again  (p.  248),  "  We  shall  esteem  it  a  special 
favour  of  Divine  Providence  that  the  Conscience  of  the  Church  was 
appealed  to  for  its  testimony  and  confession  (on  the  Eternal  Godhead  of 
the  Person  of  the  Son)  while  it  still  retained  its  direct  certitude  and 
simplicity,  and  that  at  the  commencement  of  its  voyage  a  beacon-fire 
was  lit  to  mark  its  way  over  the  stormy  sea  before  it.  But  the  hand 
of  a  firm  and  steady  Pilot  was  also  provided  for  the  voyage,  in  the  per- 
son of  a  man  who  was  endowed  with  a  superior,  far-seeing,  and  no  less 
speculative  than  Christian  mind,  and  who  through  his  power  of  en- 
durance and  strength  of  character  always  remained  master  of  the  posi- 
tion.  Athanasius  the  Great  made  it  the  work  of  his  long  and  eventful 
life  to  defend  the  Creed  put  forth  by  the  Nicene  Council,  with  all  the 
weapons  of  science  and  spiritual  chivalry,  against  the  vacillating  and 
short-sighted  on  the  one  side,  and  the  apostate  on  the  other  ;  and  to 
him  was  given  the  happiness  of  seeing  that  to  which  he  had  devoted 
his  life  attain  ever-widening  influence  and  recognition,  and  to  sink 
into  his  grave  crowned  with  honour,  and  laden  with  the  fruit  of  his 
labours." 


426  ATHANASIUS  ON  THE  INCARNATION. 

and  country  in  which  he  lived.  The  Greek  character 
had  then  greatly  degenerated.  It  had  become 
frivolous,  fickle,  petulant,  insincere,  and  dissolute. 
The  description  of  it  by  Juvenal  has  been  familiar- 
ized to  English  readers  by  Dr.  Johnson's  imitation  of 
his  third  Satire.  Juvenal  also  describes  the  re- 
ligious fanaticism  of  Egypt,  from  personal  know- 
ledge, in  his  fifteenth  Satire.  And  the  letter  of  the 
Emperor  Hadrian  "  to  the  Consul  Servianus,  in  which 
he  portrays  the  levity,  turbulence,  profligacy,  and 
superstition,  mingled  with  infidelity,  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Egypt,  especially  of  Alexandria,  the  future 
scene  of  the  labours  and  sufferings  of  Athanasius, 
presents  by  way  of  contrast  a  striking  testimony  to 
his  heroic  devotion  and  unflinching  intrepidity  and 
constancy  in  such  a  demoralized  age  and  country.^ 

Athanasius  was  less  than  thirty  years  of  age  at 
the  Nicene  Council,  but  providentially  for  him  and 
for  the  Church  he  had  previously  devoted  himself  to 
such  theological  studies  as  fully  qualified  him  to  en- 
counter Arianism  with  success,  and  to  display  to 
others  its  true  tendency. 

His  Treatise  oil  the  hicarnation  of  the  Soji^  of  God, 
which  was  written  before  the  Nicene  Council,  unfolds 

"  "  yEgyptum  totam  didici  levem,  pendulam,  et  ad  omnia  famas  mo- 
menta volitantem.  Genus  hominum  seditiosissimum,  vanissimum,  in- 
juriosissimum."  Hadrian  in  Vopisci  Saturnino,  p.  960.  Hist.  Aug. 
Script.,  Lug.  Bat.  1661.  Strange  is  the  account  he  gives  of  the  religious 
condition  of  its  people,  Heathens,  Jews,  and  Christians. 

7  See  Dean  Church  on  Gifts  of  Civilization,  p.  249. 

*  This  Treatise  is  in  pp.  37 — 78  of  Vol.  i.  of  the  Benedictine  edition 
of  S.  Athanasius,  Patav.  1777,  and  has  been  published  separately  by  the 
late  Rev.  Charles  Marriott,  and  by  Canon  Ridgway,  Oxf.  1880.  It  is 
one  of  the  best  introductions  to  a  study  of  the  questions  involved  in  the 
Arian  Controversy,  especially  if  combined  with  Dr.  Dorner's  remarks 
upon  it,  On  the  Person  of  Christ,  Divis.  i.  vol.  ii.  pp.  248—258. 


ATHANASIUS  ON  THE  INCARNATION.  427 

the  consequences  of  Arianism  as  undermining  the  foun- 
dations of  the  faith  in  that  doctrine.  In  that  treatise 
Athanasius  does  not  mention  Arianism.  But  it  shows 
in  what  light  he  would  have  viewed  it,  and  have  led 
others  to  regard  it.  He  does  not  start,  as  Arius  did, 
from  the  question,  "  Since  Christ  is  truly  Man,  how  can 
men  be  persuaded  to  acknowledge  Him  as  God  ?  "  But 
building  on  Holy  Scripture  and  Catholic  tradition,  he 
begins  with  the  declaration  of  Christ's  Godhead.  He 
asserts  His  co-eternity  and  co-equality  with  the 
Father,  and  affirms  Him  to  be  supreme  above  Angels 
and  Archangels,  and  to  be  the  Very  Image  of  the 
Father,  and  to  be  very  Life  (auro^ft)?;).  He  then  states 
the  reasons  for  which  the  Son  of  God  became  Man. 
Christ  the  Eternal  Image  and  Brightness  of  the 
Father  enlightens  all  things.  He  is  the  Eternal 
Word  of  the  Father,  and  created  all  things,  and  He 
was  the  fittest  Agent  for  the  renewal  or  second  crea- 
tion and  restoration  of  all  things,  which  had  been 
ruined  by  the  sin  and  fall  of  Man.  He  became  Man, 
in  order  that  He,  God  in  Man,  might  do  for  man  what 
man — albeit  penitent  for  sin — could  not  do  for  him- 
self ;  and  also  that  man,  by  the  Spirit  in  him,  might 
come  to  the  perfect  knowledge  and  love  of  God,  and 
be  healed  of  his  mortal  sickness  by  the  only  Physi- 
cian who  could  restore  him. 

Therefore  God  in  Christ  became  Man,  perfect  Man, 
with  a  real  human  body,  soul,  and  spirit.  He,  of  His 
own  free  will,  and  perfect  love  and  pity  for  us,  and 
also  in  reverence  for  God's  Law,  took  our  nature.  He 
did  not  join  Himself  to  any  one  person  already  exist- 
ing, but  assumed  Humanity  in  the  womb  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  That  which  He  assumed  began 
to  exist  (by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost)  at  the 


428    A  THANASIUS  ON  THE  A  TONEMENT,  AND  ON 
REDEMPTION. 

very  moment  of  His  assumption  of  it.  He  became 
the  Head^  Representative,  andfProxy  of  Mankind,  that 
by  means  of  the  union  of  the  Godhead  with  the 
Manhood  in  His  Person,  and  by  suffering,  wilHngly 
and  joyfully,  death  (which  as  God  He  could  not  do), 
He  might  satisfy  the  Law  of  God's  Justice  by  His 
obedience  ;  and  that  the  penalty  of  death,  due  to  the 
guilt  of  men,  might  be  fully  paid  to  God's  Justice  by 
Himself,  a  spotless  Victim  and  vicarious  Sacrifice ;  and 
that  the  curse  pronounced  by  the  Law  on  disobedience 
might  be  taken  away  by  His  suffering  the  accursed 
death  of  the  Cross,  suspended  in  the  air,  the  domain 
of  the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  Eph.  ii.  2  ;  and 
that  Man  might  be  redeemed  from  death,  the  wages 
due  to  sin,  by  God  in  Man  ;  and  Man  be  reunited  to 
God,  and  become  an  heir  of  Resurrection  and  Life 
immortal  by  union  with  Him  Who  is  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life,^  and  Who  by  His  miracles  showed 
Himself  the  Creator  and  the  Lord  of  all  created 
things,  and  the  Conqueror  of  Death  and  of  the  Devil 
the  enslaver  and  tyrant  of  the  heathen  World,  and 
Who  gave  to'  men,  ay,  even  to  children,  and  weak 
women  and   maidens,^   the  power  to  overcome  them, 

9  The  Word  became  mortal,  that  we  might  have  immortahty ;  He 
became  Man  (says  Athanasius),  that  we  might  be  divinized.  Observe 
the  marvellous  and  providential  power  of  the  Greek  language,  nowhere 
more  clearly  shown  than  in  the  writings  of  Athanasius,  to  express 
Christian  Mysteries  :  o  A6yos  ivr]vQpu}Tn](Tev,  'Iva  7ine7s  d€oiron]d(ii}fji.€v 
(c.  54).  In  Christ  (says  St.  Peter,  2  Pet.  i.  4)  God  hath  given  us  pre- 
cious promises,  that  we  might  be  partakers  of  the  divine  nature ;  and 
therefore  Hooker  says  (V,  liv.  6),  God  hath  (by  the  Incarnation) 
"  deified  our  nature,"  and  *'  Man  is  an  associate  of  Deity." 

1  The  words  of  S.  Athanasius  here,  cap.  28  (cp.  ibid.  c.  29,  ^TjAetwi/ 
Koi  naiSwv  uewv),  speaking  of  the  grace  and  power  given  by  Christ  to 
young  maidens  to  be  martyrs  for  Him,  and  to  despise  life  and  overcome 
death,  ira7Ses  Kal  veai  K6pai  irapopSxri  ri)V  ivravda  fiiop  Kol  ano- 
Qavetv  fx€\eTU(Ti,  seem  to  favour  the  conjecture  proposed  in  mv  note  on 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS  429 

IMPERILLED  BY  ARIANISM. 

and  Who  will  come  again  in  glory,  and  put  all 
things  under  His  feet. 

This  true,  Scriptural,  and  Catholic  doctrine  con- 
cerning the  Person  of  Christ,  "  God  manifest  in  the 
Flesh,"  and  concerning  the  guilt  of  Sin  and  the  Atone- 
ment made  by  Christ,  and  His  work  of  Redemption 
and  man's  Restoration  by  Him,  was  imperilled  by  the 
heresy  of  Arius.  Since  also  the  virtue  and  grace  of  the 
Christian  Sacraments,  as  the  divinely  instituted  means 
for  imparting  remission  of  sins  through  Him,  and  of 
uniting  man  to  God  in  Him,  and  of  giving  to  Man  the 
pledge  of  a  blessed  resurrection  and  a  glorious  immor- 
tality, flow  from  God  in  Christ,  becoming  Man  and 
dying  on  the  Cross^  the  Life  which  the  Church  derives 
from  Him  in  them  upon  earth,  and  which  she  hopes  to 
enjoy  with  Him  for  ever  in  Heaven,  was  endangered  by 
Arianism.  What  profit  could  she  receive  in  the  Holy 
Sacraments,  unless  the  Water  of  Holy  Baptism  is  a 
Divine,  regenerating  effluence  from  the  Side  of  Christ, 
Very  God  and  VeryMan  ?  And  how  could  she  look  for 
pardon  and  cleansing  from  sin  in  the  other  Sacra- 
ment,— how  for  spiritual  strength  and  for  the  hope  of 
Resurrection  and  Immortality  there,  unless  the  Food 
which  she  receives,  and  the  Cup  which  she  drinks, 
in  the  Holy  Eucharist  were,  as  St.  Paul  declares,  the 
Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Him  Who  is 
God.?  (i  Cor.  X.  i6.)  She  knows  that  the  Incarnation 
of  the  Son  of  God  is  an  ineffable  Mystery,  which  no 
human  intellect  can  scrutinize.  But  she  knows  also 
that  this  Mystery    is    like  the    noonday  Sun   in   the 

Theocritus  xxvi.  i,  on  that  difficult  passage  in  S.  Clement  of  Rome, 
C  6,  Sta  f^Aoj  ^t.(axQtt(ra.i  bauaiSes  Kal  SipKai  (qu.  ueauiSes  Kal 
TratSicr/cat?)  aiKicrixaTa  Seiva  ira6ov(rai  iirl  rhuTris  iri(XTeusSp6/xou KaT-fivTrj- 
aav. 


430  S.  ANTHONY. 

heavens,  which  dazzles  the  eye,  but  alone  enables  it  to 
see.  So  this  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  cannot  be 
gazed  at,  but  it  enlightens  all  things ;  the  world 
would  be  dark  without  it.  And  if  Arianism  had 
prevailed,  Egyptian  darkness  would  have  eclipsed  the 
Faith.  It  would  have  blotted  out  the  spiritual  light 
in  the  firmament  of  the  Church.  Therefore  the 
Controversy  between  Alexander  and  Arius  was  not, 
as  Constantine  described  it,  and  as  some  represent 
it  now,  a  trivial  and  frivolous  dispute. 

In  connexion  with  S.  Athanasius,  a  man  ought 
to  be  mentioned,  whose  name  is  not  so  much  that  of 
a  person  as  of  a  power, — S.  Anthony,  the  hermit ;  ^ 
the  father,  as  he  is  generally  called,  of  Monasticism  ; 
but  not  of  such  Monasticism  as  lives  only  for  itself, 
but  of  such  as  trains  many  scholars,  and  seeks  for 
spiritual  strength  by  communion  with  God  in  solitude, 
and  then  goes  forth  in  that  strength  from  that  soli- 
tude, in  order  to  act  upon  Kings  and  People,  and  upon 
Cities  ^  and  Churches,  in  defence  of  the  truth. 

In  evil  days  of  the  Church,  when  some  of  her 
members  and  ministers  fall  away  from  the  faith, 
through  fear  of  persecution,  and  in  other  times  when 
some  of  a  different  temperament  are  tempted  to  be- 
tray the  truth  by  love  of  courtly  favour,  or  of  popu- 
lar applause,  men  have  ever  been  raised  up,  who  by 
spiritual  communion  with  the  unseen  and  eternal 
world,  and  by  grace  given  from  above  to  fervent  prayer, 
and  devout  meditation  on  the  Divine  Word,  and  to 
self-denial,   mortification,  and  holy  living,  have  not 


2  Born  A.D.  251,  died  A.D.  356  :  bom  forty-five  years  before  Atha- 
nasius, died  seventeen  years  before  him. 

3  TToAAd/ftj  ets  7r(5Aeis  tf^oira,  says  Sozomen,  i.  13. 


MONASTIC  ISM.  43 1 

only  been  enabled  to  resist  error  and  maintain  the 
truth,  but  also  to  rebuke  sin  in  high  places,  and  to 
confirm  others  in  the  faith  ;  and  have  been  like  per- 
sonifications of  the  energy  and  fervent  zeal  of  the 
heavenly  and  spiritual  Life,  in  contrast  and  antagonism 
to  the  tyranny,  pride,  and  ungodliness  of  worldly  Power. 
They  represent  the  strength  of  holy  quietness,  which 
loves  to  dwell  in  a  spiritual  solitude,  in  opposition  to 
that  haughty  Scepticism,  which  too  often,  in  evil  days, 
lifts  up  its  head  boldly  in  cities  and  palaces,  and  in 
popular  assemblies. 

Such  was  Elias  the  Prophet,  in  the  days   of  Ahab 
and  Jezebel  ;  standing  alone  on  Mount  Carmel  as  a 
witness    for   God    against  idolatrous  princes,  priests, 
and    people.       Such   were   the   priests,    Eleazar   and 
Mattathias,  in  the  evil  days  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
when  time-serving  high  priests,  Jason,  Menelaus,  and 
Alcimus,  being  won   over  by  flattery  and  love  of  the 
world,  surrendered  God's  holy  places   to   the   Syrian 
persecutor.     Such  was  John  the  Baptist,  at  the  Court  " 
of  Herod  the  Tetrarch.     And  such  was   S.  Anthony, 
in  the  reign  of  terror,   in   the  days  of  the   Emperor 
Diocletian,  when  he  came    forth  from   the  desert  to 
minister  to  the  martyrs  at  Alexandria  ;  and  such  he 
was,  when  in  the  days  of  Constantine   he  suddenly 
appeared  in  the  same  city  to  denounce  the  heresy  of 
Arius,    and    to    preach    with    a    voice    of  power    the 
Catholic   faith;  and   such  was  he  when   Constantine 
himself  had  wavered  and   abandoned  Athanasius   to 
his  enemies,  and  when  his  son  Constantius  persecuted 
that  great  Bishop  and  Confessor. 

Whether  or  no  S.  Anthony  was  permitted  to 
behold  heavenly  visions  and  revelations,  whether  or 
no   he   was    enabled    by    Divine    influence   to   work 


432  ANTHONY. 

miracles,  and  to  cast  out  evil  spirits,  and  to  foretell 
the  future,  it  might  be  presumptuous  to  affirm. 

At  the  same  time,  in  such  a  crisis  as  that  in  which 
he  lived  and  moved,  when  the  great  article  of  the 
faith  concerning  the  Eternal  Godhead  of  Christ  was 
in  jeopardy,  and  when,  in  S.  Jerome's  words,  the 
w^orld  was  thunderstruck  with  astonishment  at 
suddenly  finding  itself  Arian  ("  obstupuit  orbis  et  se 
Arianum  esse  factum  miratus  est  "),  and  when  Athana- 
sius  stood  almost  alone  in  defence  of  the  truth,  it 
does  not  seem  unworthy  of  the  Divine  Power  and  Love 
to  have  given  attestation  to  the  faith  by  miraculous 
interventions  in  its  behalf.  Certainly  Athanasius 
believed  that  Anthony  had  supernatural  gifts  and 
powers,  as  appears  from  the  life  "*  written  by  him  of 
that  extraordinary  man. 

He  was  born,  A.D.  251,  of  a  noble  family  in  Egypt, 
and  being  struck  by  the  sound  of  the  divine  words 
he  "  sold  all  that  he  had  "  (and  it  was  a  large  estate), 
and  "  gave  to  the  poor,"  and  "  came  and  followed  " 
Christ.  He  lived  a  life  of  continual  self-mortification, 
subsisting  on  bread,  water,  and  salt,  with  the  addition, 
when  old,  of  dates,  olives,  and  herbs  ;  sleeping  on 
the  bare  ground,  in  a  solitary  cell,  or  in  company  with 
a  few  scholars.  He  never  learnt  to  read,  but  knew 
the  Psalms  by  heart,  which  he  °  sang  daily,  and  other 

*  The  life  of  S.  Anthony  by  Athanasius  may  be  seen  in  the  Benedic- 
tine edition  of  his  works  (Patavii,  1777,  Tom.  ii.  632 — 691).  From  that 
life  all  the  incidents  mentioned  here  are  derived.  The  narrative  of 
Sozomen,  i.  1 3,  is  also  interesting  and  valuable.  More  legendary  accounts 
may  be  seen  in  Tillemont,  vi.  loi — 104,  together  with  an  abstract  of  the 
life  by  Athanasius. 

^  Not  only  S.  Athanasius  bears  testimony  to  S.  Anthony,  but 
S.  Augustine  in  his  Confessions,  viii.  6,  makes  some  memorable  state- 
ments concerning  him,  '*  Stupebamus  audientes  tam  recenti  memoria 
et  prope  nostris  temporibus  testatissima  mirabilia  Tua  in  fide  recta  et 


ANTHONY  AND  A  THANASIUS.  433 

parts    of    Holy    Scripture.     He   spent   many    hours 
daily  in  Prayer,  and  communed  continually  with  God 
and  with    the  invisible  world,  and   wrestled  with  the 
powers  of  darkness,  and  awed  Kings  and  multitudes 
by  his  sanctity  and  courage,  and  converted  crowds 
by  his  preaching,  and  confuted  philosophers  ;  and  yet 
was  modest,  and  humble,  and  gentle,  reverent  in  his 
speech    and     behaviour     to     Bishops,     Priests,    and 
Deacons  ;  and  lived  a  life  of  industrious   simplicity, 
labouring  with  his  own  hands,  making  mats  of  palm 
leaves,  and  tilling  the  soil  ;  and  stood  forth  an  uncom- 
promising witness  of  the  truth  against  schism   in  the 
Meletians,    against    heresy   in    the    Arians,   against 
unbelief  in   the     Manichaeans  ;    and   yet    was    ever 
genial,   calm,    and    cheerful,    enjoying  uninterrupted 
health   and    freshness    of   mind    and    body,    for    one 
hundred  and  five  years  ;   and,  in  times  when  Bishops 
and  Priests  yielded  to  worldly  influence,  under  the 
Emperors  Constantine  and   Constantius,  and  denied 
the  faith  in  the  Incarnate   God,  which   many  of  them 
had  subscribed  with  their  hands   at  Nic^a,  and  per- 
secuted Athanasius   with  mortal    enmity,   and  drove 
the  greatest  Bishop  of  Christendom  from   his  Epis- 
copal see,  he  remained  loyal   to  his  Lord,  and  true 
to  that  noble-hearted  Confessor,  Christ's  faithful  ser- 
vant, who  found  shelter  and   comfort  in  Anthony's 
society  as    in    a   calm  harbour,    when    wearied    with 
the  storms  of  life,  and  to  whom  he  bequeathed  his 

Catholica  Ecclesia  ;"  and  speaking  of  Anthony's  lack  of  literature,  he 
says,  c.  8,  "  Surgunt  indocti  et  coelum  rapiunt ;  et  nos  cum  doctrinis 
nostris  sine  corde  ecce  volutamur  in  carne  et  sanguine  ;"  cp.  ibid.  c.  12. 
And  in  the  prologue  to  his  "  De  Doctrina  Christiana,"  S.Augustine 
says,  ''Antonius  sanctus  et  perfectus  vir,  ^gyptius  monachus,  sine 
ulla  scientia  litterarum  Scripturas  divinas  et  memoriter  audiendo  tenuisse 
et  prudenter  cogitando  intellexisse  prsedicaiur." 

F  f 


434    ARIANJSM  AS  REPRESENTED  BY  ARIUS ;  HOW 
DEALT  WITH  BY  ALEXANDER. 

blessing    and    his    anchorite's    robe   with    his    dying 
breath. 

In  contemplating  therefore,  as  we  do  with  wonder, 
the  unflinching  faith,  courage,  and  patience  of  S. 
Athanasius,  and  the  battle  which  he  fought  almost 
single-handed  for  the  truth  for  forty  years,  we  ought 
not  to  forget  the  moral  and  spiritual  comfort  and 
support  which  he  derived  from  the  saintly  Eremite  of 
Egypt/ 

In  order  that  Arianism  may  not  be  misrepresented, 
it  is  right  that  Arius  should  be  heard  declaring  his 
own  opinions  in  his  own  words. 

We  have  two  statements  of  his  tenets  from  Arius 
himself,  writing  when  he  had  time  to  consider  care- 
fully what  he  had  to  say. 

.  He  had  first  been  exhorted  privately,  with  mildness 
and  charity,  by  Alexander,  his  spiritual  Superior,  to 
weigh  well  his  opinions  ; '  he  was  then  invited  by  him 
to  a  conference  with  the  Clergy ;  and  when  these 
efforts  failed,  he  was  summoned  by  him  to  appear  first 
before  a  Synod  at  Alexandria,  in  which  thirty-six 
Priests  were  present  and  forty-four  Deacons,  Athana- 
sius among  them,  and  in  which  the  heresy  of  Arius 
was  condemned. 

When  he  was  not  induced  by  this  act  of  his  Bishop 
and  of  his  brethren  to  retract  or  modify  his  opinions, 
Alexander    convoked    a  Council  of  the  Bishops  of 

s  Compare  De  Broglie,  Hist,  de  I'Eglise,  i.  372  ;  Canon  Bright  on 
Athanasius,  in  Prof.  Wace's  Diet.  p.  181. 

'  See  the  history  in  Epiphanius,  Hseres.  69  ;  Theodoret,  Hist.  Eccl.  i. 
2—6  ;  Socrat.  Hist.  Eccl.  i.  5—8  ;  Sozomen,  Hist.  i.  15—17  ;  S.  Atha- 
nas.  in  Arian.  i.  5,  de  Synod.  15;  Hilar.  Trin.  iv.  12,  vi.  5;  Labbe's 
Concilia,  ii.  i,  p.  25  ;  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccl.  iii.  70—112;  Tillemont,  vi. 
218—230,  254 — 264;  Newman's  Arians,  chap.  ii.  sect,  v.,  and 
chap.  iii.  sect,  i.;  Neander's  Church  History,  iv.  pp.  24—47  ;  Dorner, 
Person  of  Christ,  Div.  i.  vol.  ii.  pp.  227-260,  286-299. 


EUSEBIUS,   BISHOP  OF  NICOMEDIA.  435 

Egypt  and  Libya,  amounting  to  a  hundred,  besides 
presbyters  ;  and  when,  having  been  interrogated,  Arius 
refused  to  revoke  any  of  his  former  statements,  he  was 
excommunicated  and  deprived. 

This  was  probably  in  the  year  319,  Arius,  being 
thus  condemned^  left  Alexandria,  and  took  refuge 
first  in  Palestine  with  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Caesarea, 
and  next  with  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia. 

Alexander  remonstrated  in  letters  with^  these 
Bishops,  in  which  he  refuted  the  errors  of  Arius,  and 
stated  the  doctrine  of  Holy  Scripture  and  of  the 
Church. 

On  the  other  hand,  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  wrote  a 
circular  in  behalf  of  Arius,  and  prevailed  upon  some 
Councils,  held  in  Bithynia  and  Palestine^  to  receive 
him  to  Communion. 

Some  Bishops,  such  as  Paulinus  of  Tyre  and  Euse- 
bius of  Csesarea,  allowed  him  (although  excommu- 
nicated by  his  own  Bishop)  to  preach  in  their  Dioceses ; 
and  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  induced  these  Bishops  to 
join  him  in  a  remonstrance  to  Alexander,  Bishop  of 
Alexandria,  and  in  a  request  to  re-admit  him  to 
Communion. 

But  to  return  to  the  statement  by  Arius  of  his  own 
doctrine. 

Having  been,  as  has  been  said,  condemned  by 
Alexander  and  by  the  Council  at  Alexandria,  and 
having  quitted   that  city,  he  wrote  a  letter^  to  his 

^  It  is  stated  by  Epiphanius  (Hfer.  69)  that  Alexander  wrote  as  many 
as  seventy  letters  for  this  and  similar  purposes  ;  probably  they  were 
copies  with  some  modifications.  Only  two  are  extant,  one  preserved 
by  Theodoret,  the  other  by  Socrates,  in  their  Ecclesiastical  Histories  ; 
they  will  be  quoted  hereafter. 

9  It  may  be  seen  in  Epiphanius,  Haer.  69,  p.  731,  and  in  Theodoret, 
i.  4. 

F    f  2 


436  MANIFESTO  OF  ARIUS. 

friend  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  which  may  be  regarded 
as  an  authentic  profession  of  his  faith,  as  follows  : — 

"  Arius,  who  is  unjustly  persecuted  by  Alexander 
the  Pope  ^  on  account  of  the  all-conquering  Truth,  of 
which  thou  art  a  champion,  wisheth  health  in  the 
Lord  to  his  most  desired  Lord,  and  man  of  God,  faith- 
ful and  orthodox  EUSEBIUS. 

"  Now  that  our  Father  Ammonius  is  going  to 
Nicomedia^  it  appears  to  me  to  be  reasonable  and  due, 
that  I  should  address  thee  by  means  of  him,  and  that 
I  should  remind  the  natural  love  and  affection  which 
thou  bearest  towards  the  brethren  for  the  sake  of  God 
and  His  Christ,  how  that  the  Bishop  (of  Alexandria) 
mightily  ravages  and  persecutes  us,  and  leaves  no " 
stone  unturned  against  us,  so  as  to  expel  us  from  the 
city,  as  if  we  were  atheists,  because  we  do  not  agree 
with  him  when  asserting  publicly  '  Always  God  ;' 
'  always  the  Son  ;'  '  together  the  Father ;'  '  together 
the  Son'  (with  Him).  'The  Son  co-exists  with  the 
unbegotten  Father  ;'  '  He  is  eternally  begotten,'  '  un- 
born-born ;'  ^  '  neither  by  thought  nor  for  a  moment  is 
the  Father  pre-existent  to  the  Son  ;  always  God  ; 
always  Son  ;  the  Son  is  from  God  Himself 

"  Since  then  Eusebius,  thy  brother  in  Caesarea,  and 
Theodotus  (Bishop  of  Laodicea),  and  Paulinus  (Bishop 
of  Tyre),  Athanasius   (Bishop  of  Anazarbus),  Grego- 

^  Tov  TTaira.  The  term  TroTras  in  Greek,  and/^/a  in  Latin,  was  given 
in  the  fourth  century,  and  down  to  the  eighth,  to  all  Bishops,  especially 
of  the  principal  Sees  ;  it  is  now  applied  in  Greece  to  every  Priest.  It 
was  not  assumed  by  Bishops — not  by  the  Bishop  of  Rome  till  Siricius, 
A.D.  385  (Vaines'  Diet.  ii.  162,  Paris,  1774).  It  was  limited  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  by  Gregory  VII.  in  the  eleventh  century. 

"^  Literally  iravra  Kcihwu  reiVei,  stretches  every  cable — a  nautical  meta- 
phor, appropriate  to  an  inhabitant  of  Alexandria. 

3  There  is  some  variation  in  the  i-eadings  here.  See  the  note  of  Schulze 
in  his  edition  of  Theodoret,  torn.  iii.  p.  749,  Halle,  1769. 


DOCTRINAL  STA  TEMENT  OF  ARIUS.  437 

rius  (Bishop  of  Berytus),  Aetius  (Bishop  of  Lydda), 
and  all  the  Easterns,  who  affirm  that  the  Father, 
without  a  beginning,  exists  before  the  Son,  are  anathe- 
matized, with  the  exception  of  Philogonius  alone 
(Bishop  of  Antioch),  and  Hellanicus  (Bishop  of 
Tripolis),  and  Macarius  (Bishop  of  Jerusalem),  who 
are  heretics  ^  and  uncatechized,  some  of  w^hom  say 
that  He  is  the  eructation,^  and  others  that  He  is  the 
projection  of  the  Father,  others  that  He  is  co- 
unbegotten  ;  and  since  we  cannot  bear  to  hear  their 
impieties,  even  though  these  heretics  threaten  us  with 
ten  thousand  deaths,  (let  me  answer  them  as  follows) : — 

"  What  do  we  ourselves  say  ?  What  are  our  opinions? 
What  have  we  taught  ?  and  what  do  we  teach  ?  This, 
— that  the  Son  is  not  unbegotten,^  nor  any  part  in  any 
wise  of  the  unbegotten  (Father),  nor  of  any  substance  ; 
but  that  by  the  will  and  counsel  (of  the  Father)  the 
Son  subsisted  before  the  w^orlds,  complete  God,  un- 
changeable ; '  and  that  He  did  not  exist  before  He  was 
begotten,  or  created,  or  was  decreed  (to  exist),  or 
established  (by  the  Father),  for  He  was  not  unbe- 
gotten. 

"  We  are  persecuted  because  we  say  '  the  Son  has 
a  beginning,  but   God  has  no  beginning.'     For  this 

■*  "  Arius  called  them  heretics,''^  says  Theodoret  here  (i.  4),  "  because 
they  declared  the  Son  to  be  co -eternal,  co-equal  in  honour,  and  con- 
substantial  with  the  Father." 

^  Scoffing  words,  charging  them  with  Valentinianism, 

^  There  is  an  ambiguity  in  the  word  ayewnros.  The  Athanasians  did 
no^  say  that  He  was  unbegotten,  but  that  He  was  not  made ;  they 
asserted,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  Son  was  God,  but  begotten  of  the 
Father,  Who  was  God,  but  not  begotten  of  any. 

^  Arius  changed  his  opinion  as  to  this  point ;  he  had  before  dared  to 
say  that  the  Son  might  have  changed  and  degenerated  even  into  moral 
depravity  ;  see  Alexander's  Epistle  below,  p.  444.  And  Arius  afterwards 
re-asserted  this  opinion  at  Nicsea  (Athanas.  Orat.  in  Arian.  p.  294  ; 
see  below,  in  the  history  of  the  Council,  p.  450)* 


438     EUSEBIUS  OF  CMSARE A— LETTER  OF  ARTUS 
TO  ALEXANDER,  BLSHOP  OF  ALEXANDRIA. 

cause  they  harass  us  ;  and  because  we  say  that  the 

Son  is  from  things  that  had  no  previous  existence ;  ^ 

which  assertion  we  make,  because  He  is  no  part  of 

God,  nor  from    any  (pre-existing)    substance.       For 

these  reasons  they  trouble  us. — Thou  knowest  the  rest. 

"  I  pray  that  thou  mayest  be  in  good  health  in  the 

Lord  ;    and  be  mindful  of   our  tribulations,  O  thou 

collucianist,^  and  truly  Eusebius"  (pious). 

Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  approved  this 
Epistle,  and  wrote  a  letter  in  accordance  with  it  to 
Paulinus,  Bishop  of  Tyre,  in  which  he  lauded  Eusebius, 
Bishop  of  Csesarea,  for  his  defence  of  the  Truth,  that 
is,  for  his  support  of  Arius^  and  requested  Paulinus  to 
intercede  with  Alexander.  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  in 
behalf  of  Arius  (Theodoret,  i.  5). 

Arius  made  another  profession  of  doctrine  in  a 
letter  to  his  own  Bishop  ^  Alexander,  which  was 
written  after  the  former,  and  when  he  was  a  guest  of 
Eusebius  at  Nicomedia,  and  doubtless  in  concert  with 
him  ;  and  when,  being  patronized  by  him, .he  was 
enabled  to  exercise  influence  over  the  mind  of  Con- 
stantia,  ^the  sister  of  Constantine,  and  also  on  the 
Emperor  himself,  who  (as  has  been  already  stated, 
p.  421)  endeavoured  to  adjust  the  differences  between 
Arius  and  Alexander  by  a  letter  despatched  to  them 
by  the  hand  of  Hosius,  Bishop  of  Cordova. 

^  e|  ovK  oi'Twv,  therefore  not  from  the  substance  of  the  Father,  and 
not  consubstantial  with  Him.  And  yet  they  said  that  the  Son  created 
all  things,  and  that  there  was  a  time  (which  could  not  be  before  creation, 
since  time  dates  from  creation)  when  the  Son  did  not  exist. 

^  I.  e.  my  former  fellow-disciple  under  Lucian  of  Antioch. 

1  This  is  quoted  by  Epiphanius,  Haeres.  69,  c.  5,  p.  732  ;  Athanasius 
de  Synod,  p.  885  ;  Orat,  iii.  c.  Arianos,  p.  389  ;  S.  Hilar,  de  Trin. 
iv.  6. 


LETTER  OF  ARIUS  TO  ALEXANDER.  439 

The  letter  of  Arius  to  Alexander  is  as  follows  : 
the  reader  will  observe  that  it  is  much  more  guarded 
in  its  language  than  his  former  Epistle  to  his  friend 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  (p.  436). 

"  To  the  blessed  Pope,  and  our  Bishop,  Alexander, 
the  Presbyters  and  Deacons  wish  health  in  the  Lord. 

"The  faith  which  we  have  learnt  from  our  fore- 
fathers, and  from  thee,  O  blessed  Pope,  is  this, — We 
confess  one  only  God,  unbegotten,  one  only  Eternal, 
one  only  without  beginning,  one  only  true,  having 
immortality,  one  only  wise,  one  only  good,  one 
Supreme  Potentate,  one  only  Judge  of  all.  Governor 
and  Dispenser  of  all  things,  invariable,  unalterable, 
just,  and  good,^  the  God  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets, 
and  of  the  New  Testament.'^ 

"  We  believe  that  this  God  begat  His  only-begotten 
before  all  worlds ;  by  Whom  also  He  made  the 
Worlds  and  all  things.  We  believe  that  He  begat  the 
Son  not  in  appearance,  but  in  reality,  and  that  He 
constituted  Him  by  His  own  Will  to  be  invariable 
and  unalterable^  a  perfect  creature  of  God,  but  not  as 
one  of  the  creatures  ;  begotten,  but  not  like  one  of 
begotten  things ;  nor  as  Valentinus  affirmed  the 
begotten  one  to  be  a  projection  {irpo^o\r)v)  of  the 
Father ;  nor  as  the  Manichaean,  who  introduced  the 
offspring  by  generation  as  a  consubstantial  part  of 
the  Father ;  nor  as  Sabellius,  who,  dividing  the 
Unity,  called  Him  Father-Son  {viOTrdropa)  ;  nor,  as 
Hieracas  says,  a  lamp  from  a  lamp,  or  a  lamp  parted 
into    two.     Nor   do   we   say   that    He,    Who    before 

2  Arius  thus  shuns  the  heresy  of  Marcion,  and  of  the  Gnostics.  A 
similar  observation  may  be  made  with  regard  to  otlier  propositions  in 
this  profession  of  faith. 

3  See  note  above,  p.  437. 


440  ARIUS  TO  ALEXANDER. 

existed,  was  afterwards  begotten  and  created  into  a 
Son  ;  we  deny  these  propositions,  as  thou  thyself,  O 
blessed  Pope,  in  the  midst  of  the  Church  and  public 
assembly  hast  often  refuted  those  who  held  those  doc- 
trines ;  but  we  assert  (the  Son  to  have  been)  created 
by  the  will  of  God  before  all  times  and  worlds^  and 
to  have  received  His  being  and  life  from  the  Father, 
Who  at  the  same  time  constituted  Him  partner  of 
His  glory ;  for  the  Father,  Who  made  Him  heir  of 
all  things,  did  not  deprive  Himself  of  the  principle  of 
unbegottenness  in  Himself.  For  the  Father  is  the 
Fountain  of  all  things.  There  are,  therefore,  three 
Persons  (viroaTdaeL^) ,  P'ather,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
The  Father  being  the  Cause  of  all  things,  is  alone 
without  beginning,  and  only  existing  by  Himself ;  but 
the  Son  was  begotten,  intemporally,^  from  the  Father, 
and  was  created  and  established  before  the  worlds. 
He  did  not  exist  before  He  was  begotten,  but  being 
alone  begotten  intemporally,  before  all  things,  sub- 
sists from  the  Father  alone  ;  for  He  is  not  eternal,  or 
co-eternal,  or  co-unbegotten  with  the  Father,  nor  has 
He  His  existence  contemporaneously  with  the  Father, 
as  some  speak  of  things  which  exist  relatively,  intro- 
ducing two  unbegotten  beginnings  ;  but  as  the  monad 
and  beginning  of  all  things.  God  is  before  all  things, 
and  therefore  He  is  before  Christ,  as  we  have  learnt 
from  thee,  preaching  in  the  midst  of  the  Church.  As, 
therefore.  He  has  His  existence  from  God,  and  His 
life  and  His  glory  and  all  His  attributes,  so  God  is 
His  beginning,  for  He  has  principality  over  Him,  as 

■*  How,  therefore,  could  there  be  a  time  when  the  Son  was  not? 

'  He  therefore  implies  that  Time  was  created  by  the  Son,  and  yet  he 
said  l\v  Sre  ovk  ■t\v,  i.  e.  "  there  was  "  (he  oi7iitted  the  word  xP^vo%,  a  time) 
"when  the  Son  was  not." 


MORAL  QUALITIES  OF  ARIUS.  441 

being  His  God  and  by  being  before  Him,  for  He  (the 
Son)  is  from  Him  ;  for  if  the  phrases  of  Scripture  '  from 
the  womb '  (Ps.  ex.  3),  '  I  came  forth  from  the  Father, 
and  am  come'  (John  xvi.  28),  are  understood  to  mean 
that  I  am  a  part  of  the  same  substance,  or  as  a  pro- 
jection from  something,  then  the  Father  would  be 
composite,  and  divisible,  and  variable,  and  corporeal, 
according  to  them  ;  and,  as  far  as  they  are  concerned, 
then  the  incorporeal  God  would  have  suffered  things 
which  only  appertain  to  what  is  bodily.  I  pray  that 
thou  mayest  be  in  good  health,  O  blessed  Pope." 

This  letter  was  subscribed  by  Arius,  and  by  five 
other  Priests,  and  six  Deacons,  and  three  Bishops, 
viz.  Secundus,  Bishop  of  Pentapolis,  Theonas  of 
Libya,  and  Pistus,  who  (says  Epiphanius)  was  placed 
at  Alexandria  by  the  Arians. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  foregoing  letter 
Arius  claims  Alexander  the  Bishop  as  agreeing  with 
himself,  and  asserts  that  Alexander  had  publicly  taught 
doctrines  in  accordance  with  his  ozvn ;  whereas  in  his 
letter  to  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  Arius  had  denounced 
Alexander  and  his  allies  as  promulgating  heresies  and 
blasphemies,  which  he  (Arius)  could  not  bear  to  hear, 
even  though  "  they  threatened  him  with  ten  thousand 
deaths"  for  dissenting  from  them  (above,  p.  437). 

But  besides  disingenuousness  and  equivocation, 
there  were  in  the  character  and  proceedings  of 
Arius  other  still  more  unhappy  elements  and  charac- 
teristics which  morally  and  spiritually  disqualified  him 
for  treating  aright  the  mysteries  which  were  the 
subject  of  this  controversy,  and  for  arriving  at  a 
clear  understanding  with  respect  to  them. 

He  was  deficient  in  two  essential  pre-requisites  for 
such  a  task,  namely,  reverence  and  modesty. 


^442  MORAL  DISQUALIFICATIONS  OF  ARIUS. 

He  was  morally  incapacitated  by  levity  and 
flippancy.  This  was  clear  froi:n  the  fact  that  while  he 
was  engaged  in  dealing  with  these  questions,  he  was 
composing  ballads  ^  upon  them  in  ribald  tunes  and 
metres  like  those  of  the  Egyptian  Sotades/  whose 
songs  were  infamous  for  their  indecency.  He  wrote 
other  songs,  such  as  were  to  be  sung  by  millers,  sailors, 
travellers,  and  others,  and  would. expose  sacred  things 
to  the  profane  jests  and  merriment  of  revellers  in  low 
taverns.  We  need  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  the 
solemn  truths  of  Christianity  were  travestied  at  the 
theatres  (Socrat.  i.  6).  Some  of  these  ballads  were  pub- 
lished by  Arius  in  his  Thalia,  so  called  from  the 
Muse  of  Comedy,  supposed  to  inspire  such  ditties  for 
popular  entertainment  at  dances  and  banquets. 

Another  serious  disqualification  was  his  vain- 
glory. "  I,  the  famous  among  men  "  (thus  he  speaks 
of  himself  in  his  Thalia)  ;  "  I,  who  have  suffered 
much  for  God's  glory."  "  According  to  the  faith  of 
God's  elect,  who  know  God's  holy  children,  saved  in 
their  faith,  gifted  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  I 
have  received  these  things  from  the  partakers  of 
wisdom,  perfected,  taught  of  God,  and  wholly  wise."^ 
He  then  declares  what  he  had  learnt,  and  what  he 
taught,  namely,  "The  Son  has  no  property  of  the 
Deity  in  His  own  Person,  and  the. Father  is  alien  in 
substance  from  the  Son." 

One  who  could  venture  to  treat  the  holiest  mysteries 
with  familiarity,^  and   could   vaunt  himself  in   such 

6  Athanasius  de  Synod,  p.  889  ;  Orat.  ii.  c.  Avian,  p.  312. 

7  Athanas.  de  Decretis  Syn.  Nic.  p.  552  ;  Orat.  ii,  c.  Arian.  pp.  308, 
309.  316. 

3  Athanas.  Orat.  c.  Arian.  ii.  310  ;  de  Synod,  p.  883. 
^  Dean  Milman  (Hist,  of  Christianity,  ii.  362)  is  indined  to  reject  the 
accounts  of  the  Thalia,  and  of  the  songs,  attributed  to  Arius,  as  irre- 


ALEXANDER'S  REFUTATIOX  OF  ARIAXISM.      443 

boastful  terms,  could  not  rightly  hope  to  be  illumined 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  Who  dwells  with  piety  and  meek- 
ness, and  without  Whose  aid  the  mind  is  blind  to 
spiritual  things. 

Having  seen  what  Arius  himself  stated  as  his  own 
opinions,  let  us  now  review  what  was  said  in  refutation 
of  them  by  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alexandria. 

As  has  been  already  mentioned,  he  wrote  circular  let- 
ters, some  ^  of  which  are  preserved.  "  They  affirm  that 
there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  of  God  did  not  exist, 
and  that  He  was  afterwards  created  and  made,  such  as 
any  other  man  ;  for,  say  they,  God  made  all  things 
out  of  tilings  that  did  not  exist  (e^  ovk,  ovtcov),  and 
they  include  the  Son  of  God  in  these  creatures  ;  to 
which  assertion  they  consequently  add,  that  He  was 
of  a  changeable  natnre,  and  capable  of  virtue  and  vice; 
and  that  not  for  any  natural  reasons,  as  having  any 
singular  gifts  as  Son  of  God  (for  they  assert  that  no 
one  is  Son  of  God  by  nature),  but  because,  being 
changeable  by  nature,  He  did  not  change  in  fact  to 
worse,  by  reason  of  His  own  moral  circumspection 
and  exercise  in  virtue.  Therefore,  they  say,  God 
foreseeing  His  constancy  chose  Him  to  be  His  Son  ; 
so  that  if  Paul  and  Peter  had  taken  the  same  pains, 
their  filiation  might  have  been  equal  to  His." 

Alexander  adds  that  Arianism  is  a  reproduction  of 
the  doctrine  of  Ebion,  and  of  Artemas,  and  of  Paul 

concilable  with  his  character  for  moral  gravity  and  logical  subtlety. 
But  are  these  things  incompatible  ?  Sanctimonious  Puritanism  allied 
itself  with  the  ribald  wit  of  Martin  Marprelate.  Hooker,  T-ife,  p.  63, 
ed.  Keble,  and  sect.  6  of  Hooker's  Dedication  of  his  fifth  Book. 

^  To  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Constantinople  ;  Philogonius,  Bishop  of 
Antioch  ;  Eustathius  of  Berrhnea,  and  others.  Theodoret,  i.  3.  A 
summary  of  Arian  doctrines  may  be  seen  in  Athanasius  de  Decret.  Nic. 
Synod.  §  6,  p.  167,  and  doubtless  Alexander  concurred  with  Athanasius 
in  his  exposition  of  them. 


444      ALEXANDER'S  STA  TEMENT  OF  THE   TR  UE 
FAITH  AS  OPPOSED  TO  ARIANISM. 

of  Samosata,  who  was  ejected  from  the  Church  by  a 
general  Synod  of  Bishops  at  Antioch. 

He  then  declares  his  own  faith  ;  and  affirms  that  in 
all  things  the  Son  is  God  as  the  Father  is  God,  but 
with  this  difference,  that  the  Father  is  wibegotte7i,  but 
the  Son  is  begotten,  not  however  in  time,  but  from 
Eternity;  for,  says  he,  we  ascribe  to  the  Son  a 
generation,  without  any  beginning,  from  the  Father. 

In  another  circular  letter  to  the  Churches,  Alexander 
thus  described  the  opinions  of  Arius  (Socrat.  i.  6). 
"  God  "  (they  say)  "  was  not  always  Father  ;  the  Son 
is  a  creature  ;  He  is  not  like  the  Father  in  substance, 
nor  is  He  His  true  Word  or  His  true  Wisdom  ;  but, 
by  an  abuse  of  terms,  He  is  called  Word  and 
Wisdom,  having  been  created  by  the  true  Word  of 
God,  and  by  the  Wisdom  in  God.  Therefore  He  is 
changeable  and  alien  from  the  substance  of  God.  He 
was  made  for  our  sake,  being  created  in  order  to  be 
the  instrument  of  our  creation.  Arius  and  his 
followers  were  asked,  Conld  the  Son  of  God  change "  as 
the  Devil  did .''  and  they  did  not  shrink  from  saying. 
Yes,  He  could." 

Alexander  says  that  he  had  refuted  them  from  the 
Holy  Scriptures  ;  but  complains  of  their  versatility, 
and  that  they  changed  their  hue  like  chameleons. 
"  Having  heard  with  our  own  ears  their  impieties,"  he 
adds,  "  we  have  anathematized  them  and  ejected  them 
from  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and  we  exhort  you,  our 
dear  and  venerable  brethren,  not  to  receive  them,  if 
any  of  them  ventures  to  present  himself  to  you." 

I  have  placed  these  two  letters  here,  although  they 
were  prior  in  time  to  those  already  quoted  of  Arius 
to  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  and  to  Alexander  ;  because 
^  See  above,  p,  437. 


ARIANISM-ITS  CONTRADICTIONS.  445 

it  seemed  right  that  the  reader  should  first  see  what 
Arius  himself  stated  as  his  opinions,  and  in  defence  of 
them,  and  then  should  hear  Alexander's  comments 
upon  them. 

On  the  whole,  we  may  note  the  following  incon- 
sistencies in  Arianism  : — 

I.  Arius  said,  "If  the  Father  begat  the  Son,  He 
Who  was  begotten  had  a  beginning  of  existence ; 
therefore  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  did  not 
exist,  and  therefore  He  was  formed  of  what  once  had 
no  existence  "  (Socrat.  i.  5). 

But  herein  Arius  abused  the  word  Son,  and  wrongly 
applied  to  divine  things  what  appertains  to  human. 
The  Father  has  always  been  a  Father,  and  the  Son  a 
Son,  as  God  has  been  always  good  and  wise,  and  Light 
has  ever  sent  forth  rays  (Athanas.  de  Decret.  Nic.  Syn. 
§24). 

"  Every  beginning,"  says  Hooker,^  "  is  a  Father  to 
that  which  cometh  of  it,  and  every  offspring  is  a  Son 
to  that  out  of  which  it  groweth.  Seeing,  therefore, 
the  Father  alone  is  originally  that  Deity  which  Christ 
originally  is  not  (for  Christ  is  God  by  being  of  God), 
it  followeth  that  whatever  Christ  hath  common  with 
His  Heavenly  Father,  the  same  of  necessity  must  be 
given  Him;  but  natiLrally  and  eternally  given,  not 
bestowed  by  way  of  benevolence  and  favour,  as  the 
gifts  of  Union  and  Unction  are  ;  and  therefore,  where 
the  fathers  give  it  out  as  a  rule  that  whatsoever 
Christ  is  said  to  have  received,  the  same  we  ought  to 
apply  only  to  the  manhood  of  Christ,  their  assertion  is 
true  of  all  things  which  Christ  hath  received  by  grace, 
but  to  that  which  He  hath  received  of  the  Father  by 
eternal  nativity  or  birth  it  reacheth  not." 

3  Hooker,  V.  liv.  9.     That  chapter  deserves  careful  study,  in  con- 
nexion with  the  Arian  controversy. 


446  JiVCONSISTENCIES  OF  ARIANISM. 

2.  Arius  having  abused  the  word  Son  for  a  so- 
phistical purpose,  next  abandoned  that  word  Son^ 
and  asserted  that  Christ  was  made  as  a  creature  by 
the  Father,  and  did  not  come  forth  out  of  the 
substance  of  the  Father,  but  was  made  oitt  of  nothing 
(e^  ovK,  ovTcov),  and  therefore  was  7iot  really  a  Son 
at  all. 

3.  Arius  alleged  that  his  doctrine  was  a  safeguard 
against  Polytheism.  But  inasmuch  as  he  asserted 
Christ  to  be  a  creature,  and  yet  called  Him  God,  "  com- 
plete God,"  and  consequently  to  be  worshipped,  that 
doctrine  encouraged  creature  worship  and  polytheism. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  secondary  God.  It  was 
rightly  said  afterwards  by  S.  Augustine,  "  Quod  Deo 
minus  est,  Deus  non  est." 

4.  Arius  affirmed  that  "  there  was  a  time  when  the 
Son  was  not,"  and  yet  he  asserted  that  the  Son 
existed  before  all  time,"*  and  all  things  were  created  by 
the  Son  ;  consequently  time  itself  (which  dates  from 
creation  ^)  was  created  by  Him,  and  therefore  came 
into  existence  after  Him,  and  therefore  could  not 
have  existed  when  He  was  not. 

As  a  shift  to  avoid  this  inconsistency,  he  said  r}v  ore 
OVK  rjv,  omitting  the  word  ')(^p6vo<;.^ 

5.  In  their  quotations  of'Holy  Scripture  the  Arians 
dealt  unfairly,  by  citing  those  texts  which  referred  to 
Christ's  humiliation  as  Man,  while  they  ignored  those 
which  declare  His  glory  as  God. 

Hosius,  Bishop  of  Corduba,  having  been  despatched 
to  Alexandria  with   the   irenicon   of  Constantine  to 

■*  See  above,  his  letter  to  Alexander. 

'"   "  Tempus  a  creatura incipit  "  (says  Augustine),  "  utrumque  a  Deo." 

^  Cp.  Dorner,  Div.  i.  vol.  ii  p.  232. 


HOSIUS  OF  CORDUB A— PRESBYTERIAN  ORDI-     447 
NA  TIOiV. 

Alexander    and    Arius,    failed    in    his    attempts    to 

mediate  between  them/ 

But  he  was  more  successful  in  another  respect. 

In  a  large  Council  assembled  at  Alexandria,  he 
examined  the  case  of  Colluthus,  a  presbyter,  who  had 
usurped  the  Episcopal  office  by  ordaining  Ischyras 
and  others  to  the  priesthood.  The  Council  condemned 
these  acts  of  Colluthus,  and  pronounced  those  ordina- 
tions to  be  null  and  void,  and  declared  the  persons 
who  had  been  ordained  to  be  only  laymen.^ 

This  Council  was  probably  held  in  the  summer  of 
A.D.  324. 

Hosius  returned  to  Constantine  at  Nicomedia. 
Probably  from  personal  intercourse,  Hosius  was  now 
better  enabled  to  form  a  correct  judgment  of  the 
character  and  doctrine  of  Arius,  and  to  inform  Con- 
stantine accordingly.  Certain  it  is  that  the  attitude 
of  the  Emperor  and  Hosius  towards  the  Arian  con- 
troversy was  now  entirely  changed. 

Hosius  counselled  Constantine  to  summon  an 
CEcumenical  Council  to  examine  and  determine  that 
controversy.  Accordingly  the  Emperor  summoned  the 
Bishops  from  all  parts  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Africa  ; — one  came  from  Persia,  another 
from  Scythia  ;  and  the  public  carriages  and  horses 
were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Bishops  for  their 
conveyance  (Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  iii.  6,  7).  The  mili- 
tary roads  of  the  Empire  were  made  ministerial  to 
the  progress  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

7  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  ii.  ad  fin. 

*  S.  Athanas.  Apol.  ii.  pp.  732,  794.  There  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  any  remonstrance  against  this  decision.  This  case,  and  the  his- 
tory of  Aerius,  show  conclusively  what  the  judgment  of  the  ancient 
Church  was  concerning  presbyterian  ordinations.  Compare  above, 
pp.  42—48. 


448  COUNCIL  OF  NIC^A. 

The  Council  met  at  Nicaea,®  the  ancient  capital  of 
Bithynia,  on  June  19/  A.D.  325  ;  its  sessions  continued 
to  Aug.  25. 

Three  hundred  and  eighteen  Bishops,  besides  many 
Priests  and  Deacons,  were  present ;  ^  a  number,  as  some 
have  noticed,  coinciding  with  that  of  Abraham's  ser- 
vants born  in  his  house  (Gen.  xiv.  14). 

S.  Athanasius  says  that  Hosius  of  Corduba  took 
the  lead  in  the  Synod's  proceedings,  and  ultimately 
framed  the  Creed.^ 

Among  eminent  Bishops  were  Alexander,  Bishop 
of  Alexandria,  attended  by  his  deacon  and  successor  in 
the  see,"^  Athanasius  ;  Eustathius,  Bishop  of  Antioch  ; 
Macarius  of  Jerusalem  ;  Caecilian,  the  famous  Bishop 
of  Carthage  ;  and  many  Confessors  of  the  faith  in 
persecution,^  such   as  Potamon    of  Heraclea  on    the 

9  Nicaea  had  been  superseded  by  Nicomedia  as  the  royal  residence. 

1  This  seems  the  most  probable  date.  See  the  authorities  in  Clinton, 
Fasti  Romani,  p.  378,  ad  a.d.  325  ;  cp.  Vales,  in  Socrat.  Hist.  i.  13  ; 
Acta  Synodi  Chalcedon,  Concilia  iv.  p.  339,  in  the  twentieth  year  of 
Constantine's  reign  ;  Heinichen  ad  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  iii.  10  ;  Fleury, 
iii.  p.  112.    Hefele  (Concil.  §  26)  places  the  opening  on  June  14. 

2  S.  Athanas.  ad  Afr.  i.  p.  932.  Basil  Caesar.  Epist.  86.  Ambrose 
de  Fide,  i.  3  and  5.  The  pious  fancy  of  some  others  noticed  that  the 
Greek  letters  which  form  the  number  318  are  TIH,  and  regarded  T  as 
the  Symbol  of  the  Cross,  and  IH  of  'Itjo-oCs.  Ambrose  de  Fide,  i.  3 
and  18. 

3  iri(TTiv  €^49eTo.     Athanas.  i.  837. 

■*  Alexander  died  in  less  than  five  months  (it  seems)  after  the  Coun- 
cil (Athanas.  Apolog.  c.  Arian.  c.  59,  p.  140),  and  was  succeeded  by 
Athanasius,  who  held  the  See  forty-six  years.  As  to  the  exact  date 
see  the  authorities  in  Canon  Bright,  Athanas.  p.  182. 

••  For  the  history  of  the  Council  see  Euseb.  Vit,  Const,  iii.  5  ;  Theo- 
doret,  Hist.  i.  7  ;  Socrat.  i.  7,  8 ;  Epiphan.  Haer.  69  ;  Sozomen,  i.  15 — 
19  ;  Tillemont,  vi.  634 — 681  ;  Fleury,  Hist.  Feci.  iii.  102 — 145  ;  New- 
man's Arians,  pp.  254 — 276 ;  Neander,  Church  History  iv.  39 — 42  ; 
.Bishop  Lightfoot's,  Canon  Bright's,  and  Canon  Wordsworth's  articles 
respectively  on  Eusebius..  Athanasius,  and  Constantine  in  Professor 
Wace's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Biography.     No  official  record  of  the 


CO  UNCIL  OF  NIC^A .  449 

Nile,  who  had  lost  an  eye ;  and  Paphnutius,  Bishop  of 
the  upper  Thebais,  who  had  suffered  in  the  same 
manner,  and  had  also  been  maimed  in  his  left  knee  ; 
Paul  of  Neo-Caesarea,  who  had  been  burnt  in  his  hand  ; 
Spyridion  of  Trimithus  in  Cyprus  ;  James  of  Nisibis, 
famed  for  miraculous  powers,  and  Leontius  of  Caesarea 
for  gifts  of  prophecy.  Silvester,  Bishop  of  Rome,  was 
prevented  by  infirmities  of  old  age  from  attending 
the  Council,  but  sent  two  presbyters,  Vitus  and 
Vincentius/ 

Constantine  invited  also  a  Novatian  Bishop,  Acesius, 
to  the  Council/ 

The  number  of  Bishops  favourable  to  Arius  is 
variously  stated  ;  by  some  they  are  said  to  have  been 
only  thirteen,  by  others  to  have  amounted  to  twenty- 
two.  The  most  eminent  among  them  were  Eusebius 
of  Nicomedia,  and  Eusebius  of  Caesarea.  Some 
Laymen,  especially  such  as  were  skilled  in  dia- 
lectics^ and  in  metaphysical  speculations,  were  ad- 
mitted, and  some  heathen  philosophers  (Socrat.  i.  8. 
Sozomen,  i.  i8). 

The  first  meetings  of  the  Bishops  were  held  in  a 
place   of  prayer  (oIko^;  evfCTjjpLO'^  Mairep  etc  ©eou  irXarv- 

acts  of  the  Church  is  extant;  the  preliminaries  to  it,  its  Creed  and 
Canons,  are  in  Labbe's  Concilia,  ii.  i  —  85  ;  Bruns'  Concilia,  i.  14 — 20; 
and  compare  S.  Athanasius  de  Decretis  Synodi  Nicaenrr,  i.  164—  190, 
written  twenty-nine  years  after  the  Council ;  Domer,  pp.  247  and  497.  • 

^  Some  Roman  Catholic  writers  say  that  they  were  sent  by  Silvester 
"  to /;vj/£/(?  at  the  Council."  Others  assert  that  Hosius  presided  as 
deputy  of  Silvester.  But  there  is  no  credible  evidence  for  either  of  these 
statements.  It  is  much  more  probable  that  Hosius,  who  was  revered 
for  his  age,  sufferings,  piety,  and  learning,  and  had  been  the  confidential 
adviser  of  the  Emperor  in  former  negotiations  with  both  parties,  and 
who  had  exhorted  him  to  summon  the  Council,  was  appointed  by  Con- 
stantine to  preside  in  it. 

"  Cp.  Socr.  i.  10  as  to  Constantine's  repartee  to  this  Bishop  :  "  Set 
up  a  ladder,  and  mount  alone  by  it  to  heaven." 


450         STATEMENTS  OF  ARIUS~TBE  EMPEROR 
CONSTANTIAE  AT  THE  COUNCIL. 

vo^evo^,  says  Eusebius,  Vit.  Const,  iii.  7)/  And  in  these 
preliminary  conferences  Arius  declared  his  opinions  to 
the  following  effect  :  ^ — "  God  was  not  always  Father, 
and  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  was  not ;  Who 
was  created  out  of  nothing.  He  was  capable  of 
change,  and  it  was  by  the  exercise  of  His  own  Free- 
will that  He  remained  good  ;  and  He  may  change  again 
as  other  men.  God  foresaw  that  He  would  continue 
good,  ar^d  in  consequence  of  that  foresight  gave 
Him  the  glory  which  He  has.  He  is  not  truly  God, 
except  by  participation  of  the  Divine  grace  like  other 
men  ;  He  is  not  the  true  Eternal  Wisdom  and  Word 
of  God,  but  was  created  by  it,  of  and  by  the  action  of 
God's  Will  ;  and  was  made  for  us,  and  not  we  for  Him." 
On  the  day  appointed  for  the  public  sessions  of  the 
Council,  the  Bishops  were  seated  in  rows,  on  the  two 
sides  of  a  large  Hall  in  the  centre  of  the  Palace  (Euseb. 
Vit.  Const,  iii.  10).  When  they  had  taken  their  places, 
some  attendants  of  the  Emperor  ^ — not  his  military 
body-guard,  but  some  Christian  friends — entered  it. 
They  were  followed  by  Constantine  himself,  attired  in 
the  imperial  purple,  resplendent  with  jewels  and  gold. 
The  historians  describe  the  loftiness  of  his  stature, 
and  the  stateliness  of  his  gait  ;  which  was  set  off 
by  his  respectful  bearing,  and  by  a  modest  blush  on 
his  countenance,  as  he  passed  along  through  the 
opposite  ranks  of  Bishops  to  the  end  of  the  hall,  where 

«  Sozomen,  i.  19,  says  that  they  met  in  the  palace  (ets  to.  ^Sao-iAem),  and 
so  Theodoret  (i.  6)  in  an  oIkos  jxi-yiaros  eV  ro7s  fiaaiXeiois.  It  is  pro- 
bable that  the  preliminary  meetings  of  the  Bishops  were  in  a  Church, 
and  the  subsequent  public  meeting  of  the  Council  was  in  a  gi'eat  Hall 
of  the  Palace.    See  Valesius  and  Heinichen  ad  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  iii.  10. 

'•*  Athanas.  in  Arian.  p.  294. 

1  Theodoret,  i.  6.  Socrat.  i.  8.  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  iii.  10.  Athanas. 
Orat.  i.  in  Arian.  p.  296. 


OPENING  ADDRESSES— THE  TERM  451 

''  HOMOOUSIOS:' 

a  low  gilded  throne  had  been   prepared  for  him.     He 

remained  standing,  till  they  made  signs  for  him  to  take 

his    seat.      A  short  address   was    then    delivered  by 

Eusebius  ^  of  Cassarea,  who  held  the  first  place  in  the 

rank  on   the  right  hand  of  the  Emperor.     Another 

address  was  spoken,  it  seems,  by  Eustathius,  Bishop 

ofAntioch  (Theodoret^  i.   6),  who  sat  next  to  Con- 

stantine,  probably  on   his  left  hand.     Perhaps  it  was 

thought  fair  that  a  representative  of  each  of  the  two 

contending  parties  should  inaugurate  the  proceedings. 

The  Emperor  replied  with  a  calm  and  gentle  tone  in 

a  Latin  speech,^  which  was  translated  by  an  interpreter 

into  Greek,  in  which  he  expressed  his  gratification  at 

their  presence,  and  his  desire  for  their  concord. 

Some  time  was  occupied  by  interrogations  and 
replies,  in  which  Athanasius  took  a  leading  part."* 

No  practical  result  ensued,  until  it  appeared  from 
writings  of  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  and  the  sayings 
of  other  Arians,  that  they  argued,  if  the  Son  of  God 
was  allowed  to  be  uncreate,  then  He  must  be  acknow- 
ledged to  be  consiibstantial  (homoousios)  with  the 
Father  ;  ^  and  this  assertion  seems  to  have  suggested  a 
term  which  would  probe  the  Arian  heresy  to  the- 
quick.     It  is  remarkable  that  Constantine  ^  supported 

"  See  the  Greek  title  to  chap.  .11  of  his  Life  of  Constantine,  Book  iii. ; 
Sozomen,  i.  19. 

•''  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  iii.  1*1—13.  Constantine  was  well  able  to  con- 
verse in  Greek  :  he  freely  debated  with  the  Bishops  in  that  language  ; 
but  he  spoke  this  speech  in  Latin,  being  more  at  home  in  that  tongue, 
and  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Roman  dignity. 

■*  Greg.  Nazian.  Orat.  21.  Rufin.  i,  14.    Socr.  i.  8.  Theodoret,  i.  25. 

*  See  the  remarks  in  Tillemont,  vi.  654  ;  Fleury,  iii.  1 14,  referring  to 
Theodoret,  Hist.  i.  7.;  S.  Ambrose  de  Fide,  i.  19. 

^  Eusebius,  in  his  Pastoral  to  his  Diocese  after  the  Council  (in 
Socrates,  i.  8)  asserts  this,  and  says  that  the  basis- of  the  Creed  was  one 
proposed  by  himself ;  but  Hosius  was  the  principal  person  in  framing  it, 
G   g   2 


452      ARIAN  ALLEGA  TION  THA  T  HOMOOUSIOS  IS 
NOT  IN  SCRIPTURE, 

those  who  pleaded  for  the  adoption  of  the  term  Jlodio- 

ousios  or  consubstantial. 

It  was  alleged  indeed  by  the  Arians,  that  Holy 
Scripture  is  an  adequate  rule  of  faith ;  and  that 
symbols  of  faith,  or  Creeds,  ought  to  be  expressed  in 
the  language  of  Scripture,  and  that  the  term  Jioiiio- 
ousios,  not  being  in  Scripture,  ought  not  to  be  used. 

But  to  this  plea  it  was  replied  ''  that  the  doctrine 
expressed  by  the  term  [Jwmooicsios)  is  in  Scripture, 
and  that  therefore  virtually  the  term  is  contained  in 
Scripture  ;  and  that  the  true  sense  of  Scripture  is 
Scripture ;  and  that,  inasmuch  as  the  Arians  quoted 
Scripture,  and  perverted  it  by  their  own  glosses  and 
false  interpretations,  and  as  that  term  was  the  most 
effectual  touchstone  of  their  heresy,  and  best  antidote 
for  its  poison,  and  the  clearest  exponent  of  the  oppo- 
site truth,  therefore  it  was  most  in  harmony  with 
Scripture,  which  condemns  false  doctrines  and  com- 
mands men  to  contend  for  the  truth.  The  term 
homoousios  was  accordingly  adopted.^ 

It  was  affirmed  that  the  Son  was  from  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Father,  and  of  the  same  substance 
with  Him  ;  and  it  was  also  asserted  that  He  was  not 
a  part  of  the  Father.     Ultimately  the  Creed  of  the 

according  to  Athanasius,  who  in  his  Treatise  de  Decret.  19—21,  ascribes 
the  result  to  the  Bishops,  and  not  to  the  Emperor  ;  cp.  Vales,  in  Socrat. 
i.  8  ;  Neander,  iv.  44. 

'  Cp.  Athanas.  de  Decret.  Nic  Syn.  19-^21,  and  as  to  the  meaning 
and  need  of  the  term   homoousios  see  de   Decret.   20—24,  de  Synod. 

39,  41—54- 

**  The  two  main  propositions  of  Arius,  (i)  that  the  Son  was  begotten 
hi  time  ;  (2)  that  He  was  created  out  of  nothing,  were  met  and  rejecied 
by  the  term  homoousios,  with  its  two  affirmations,  which  were  united  in 
the  assertion  that  Father  and  Son  have  equally  an  essential  being  ;  and 
being  of  one  essence  or  substance  are  both  co-existent  and  co-eternal. 
On  the  double  force  of  d/jLOovaios  see  Athanas.  de  Decret.  19—21  ; 
Synod.  41,  48,  52  ;.  Dorner,  p.  498. 


THE  NICENE  CREED—THE  SUBSCRIPTIONS  TO  IT.  453 
Council  of  Nic^ea   was   set   down    in    the    following 

o 

jvords  :  ^ — 

'•  We  believe  in  One  God  {d^  eva  0eoz^),  the  Father 
Ahnighty,  Maker  of  all  things,  visible  and  invisible. 
And  in  one  Lord  (et?  eva  Kvpior)  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  Begotten  of  the  Father,  His  only  Be- 
gotten, that  is,  of  t/ie  substance  {ovaia<^  ^)  of  the  Father; 
God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  Very  God  of  Very  God  ; 
Begotten  not  made,  being  of  one  substance  [oixoovaiov) 
with  the  Father,  by  Whom  all  things  were  made,  both 
the  things  in  heaven  and  the  things  on  earth  ;  Who 
for  the  sake  of  us  men,  and  for  our  salvation,  came 
down  (from  Heaven),  and  was  incarnate,  and  made 
Man  {ivav6pwin](TavTa)  ;  Who  suffered,  and  rose  again 
the  third  day,  and  ascended  into  Heaven  ;  and  Who 
will  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  dead.  And  in  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

"And  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  anathe- 
matizes those  who  say  that  there  was  (a  time)  when  the 
Son  was  not ;  and  that  He  did  not  exist  before  He 
was  born  ;  and  that  He  was  made  of  what  did  not 
exist ;  or  that  the  Son  of  God  is  of  a  different  hypo- 
stasis or  substance  (from  the  Father),  or  that  He  was 
created,  or  is  variable  and  changeable." 

All '  the  Bishops  subscribed  this  Creed "  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  Arians  ;  these  were  reduced  to 
five,  and  finally  to  two.     Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  him- 

^  Socrat.  i.  8.  Theodoret,  i.  ii.  Labbe,  Concil.  ii.  27.  Bishop  Bull, 
Def.  Fid.  Nic.  p.  14.     Hahn  in  Dorner,  Div.  i.  vol.  ii.  p.  497. 

1  Perhaps  (as  has  been  remarked  by  Bp.  Kaye)  the  Greek  word 
ovaia  would  be  better  represented  in  English  by  essence  than  by  sub- 
stance. 

"  Their  subscriptions  may  be  seen  in  Labbe's  Concilia,  ii.  50.  The 
name  of  Hosius  stands  first ;  then  those  of  Silvester's  tw  o  legates  ;  then 
that  of  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alexandria.  ■ 


454  ON  THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  EASTER— MELETIAN 
SCHISM— EPISCOPAL  ORDINATIONS. 

self  subscribed   it,  and  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  who  at 

first  had  hesitated  to  do  so.    He  explained  His  reasons 

for  assenting  to  it,  in   a  Pastoral  to  his  Diocese  ;  ^  he 

seems  to  have  been  strongly  swayed  by  the  desire  of 

peace. 

The  Council  agreed  that  Easter  should  be  kept 
uniformly  throughout  the  Church  on  the  Sunday  fol- 
lowing the  full  Moon  next  after  the  vernal  equinox.'* 

It  also  endeavoured  to  appease  the  schism  of  the 
followers  of  Meletius,  Bishop  of  Lycopolis  in  the 
Egyptian  Thebais,  who  had  separated  from  Peter_, 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,^  about  A.D.  301,  having  been 
condemned  by  him  in  a  Council  for  having  sacrificed 
to  idols  in  time  of  persecution. 

The  Council  also  enacted  some  Canons  on  Church 
discipline. 

The  most  remarkable  were  as  follows  : — 

Canon  4.—A  Bishop  ought  to  be  ordained  by  all 
the  Bishops  of  the  Province,  and,  if  this  cannot  be, 
by  three  Bishops  at  least,  the  rest  signifying  by  letter 
their  assent  to  the  ordination  ;  and  he  ought  to  be 
confirmed  by  the  Metropolitan. 

Canon  5. — No  one  who  is  excommunicated  in  one 
Diocese  ought  to  be  received  to  communion  in  another. 

In  order  that  Bishops  may  confer  on  these  matters 
and  on  others,  two  provincial  Synods  ought  to  be  held 
every  year,  one  before  Lent,  the  other  in  autumn. 

Canon  6. — to,  apyala  eOrj  KpareiTco.     "  Let  the  primi- 

3  Which  may  be  seen  at  the  end  of  Athanas.  de  Decret.  Nic.  Syn., 
and  in  Socrates,  Hist.  i.  8,  and  Theodoret.  i.  ii. 

4  Athan.  de  Synod,  p.  873. 

5  Theodoret,  i.  8.     Socrat.  1.  6.     Epiphan.  Haer.  68. 


O.V  THE  JURISDICTION  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  ROME  455 
.  —ON  THE  ORDINATIONS  OF  NOVATIANS. 

tive  customs  prevail."  Let  the  Bishop  of  Alexandria 
have  authority  over  all  in  Egypt,  Libya,  and  Pentapolis, 
inasmuch  as  a  similar  usage  exists  with  regard  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,*^  and  also  at  Antioch.  Also  in 
the  other  provinces  let  their  own  privileges  be  re- 
served to  the  Churches.  It  is  not  lawful  for  any  one 
to  be  a  Bishop  without  the  consent  of  the  Metro- 
politan of  the  Province.  If  two  or  three  Bishops, 
in  a  spirit  of  strife,  contravene  an  election,  which  is 
reasonable  and  canonical,  and  ratified  by  the  suffrages 
of  all  their  brethren,  let  the  vote  of  the  majority  prevail. 
Canon  8. — Let  the  Cathari  (i.  e.  the  Novatians)  be 
reconciled  to  the  Church  by  imposition  of  hands 
(i.  e.  not  by  a  second  Baptisrh),  on  their  profession  of 
conformity  to  the  laws  of  the  Church  as  to  commu- 
nion with  digamists,  and  with  those  who  have  lapsed 
in  persecution.  And  if  they  are  in  Holy  Orders,  let 
their  Orders  be  held  good,  if  no  other  person  duly 
ordained  is  in  the  same  place  with  them  ;  but  if  any 
of  them  is  a  Bishop,  and  if  there  is  a  Catholic  Bishop 
in  the  same  place,  the  latter  alone  shall  exercise 
Episcopal  functions  there,  and  the  former  .shall  only 
act  as  a  Presbyter  or  Chorepiscopus  (a  country 
Bishop),  unless  the  Diocesan  Bishop  is  pleased  to 
admit  him  to  a  share  in    his    Episcopal    functions. 

"  I.e.  the  Bishop  of  Rome  exercised  jurisdiction  over  "the  subu?-- 
bicarian  Churches"  (i.e.  the  Churches  near  thei  City,  Rome),  says 
Rufinus,  expounding  this  Canon  :  see  the  quotations  in  Theophilus 
AngHcanus,  Part  i.  chap.  xii.  pp.  99 — loi  and  141.  This  sixth  Canon 
of  the  318  Bishops  at  the  CEcumenical  Council  of  Nicaea,  who  preface  it 
with  the  preamble  ra  a.Qx°^^°'-  ^^V  KpaTeiTco  {let  the  primitive  acstoms 
projail),  appears  to  be  conclusive  against  the  claims  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  to  spiritual  supremacy;  and  the  Canon  is  remarkable  as  not  only 
excluding  him  from  what  he  ought  not  to  invade,  but  as  defining  the 
limits  of  his  jurisdiction,  and  as  including  him  within  a  specified  juris- 
diction, i.  e.  over  the  snbtirbicarian  Churches. 


456  NOT  TO  BE  TWO  BISHOPS  IiV  THE  SAME  CITY— 
ON  HOLY  COMMUNION— ORDINATIONS. 

This  is  SO  ordered  that  there  may  not  be  two  Bishops  in 

the  same  City. 

Canon  13. — The  ancient  Canon  is  to  be  observed, 
that  no  one  "  in  articulo  mortis^'  be  denied  the  "last 
and  most  necessary  viaticum"  {reXevTalou — some 
read  reXelov,  perfect ;  see  above,  p.  411 — kol  dvajKato- 
rdrov  icf^oSiov),  i.e.  the  Holy  Eucharist,  if  after  due 
examination  he  desires  it  to  be  administered  to  him. 

This  Canon  affords  a  striking  evidence  of  the 
judgment  of  the  Ancient  Church  on  the  necessity  of 
Holy  Communion. 

Canon  16. — If  any  Bishop  presumes  to  ordain  in 
his  own  Church  a  person  who  has  seceded  from 
another  Bishop,  to  whom  he  is  subject,  without  the 
consent  of  that  Bishop  aforesaid  from  \\hom  he  has 
come,  let  the  ordination  be  deemed  null  and  void. 

This  Canon  seems  to  refer  to  the  case  of  Origen. 
See  above,  p.  271. 

Canon  18. — It  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Holy  Synod  that  some  Deacons  administer  the  Eucha- 
rist to  Presbyters,  whereas  no  rule  nor  custom  allows 
that  they  (the  Deacons)  who  have  not  the  power  of 
offering  (i.  e.  of  consecrating  the  Eucharist)  should 
give  the  Body  of  Christ  to  those  who  offer''  (i.  e.  the 
Priests).  We  hear  also  that  some  Deacons  receive 
the  Eucharist  before  the  Bishops.  Let  all  such  prac- 
tices be  taken  away ;  and  let  the  Deacons  remain 
within  their  own  limits,  remembering  that  Deacons 
are  servants  of  Bishops,  and  inferior  to  Priests.  Let 
them  receive  the   Eucharist  in  their  own  order  after 


"'  Cp.  Council  of  Aries,  can.  15.  In  accordance  with  these  Canons, 
it  is  penal  for  a  Deacon  in  the  Church  of  England  to  consecrate  the 
Holy  Communion.  Act  of  Uniformity,  14  Car.  II.  c.  4,  s.  10,  and  see 
Bingham,  ii.  20,  7,  8. 


BAPTISM  OF  FAULT ANISTS.  457 

the  Presbyters  at  the  hands  of  the  Bishop  or  Priest, 
and  let  them  not  be  allowed  to  sit  among  the  Presby- 
ters. And  if  any  obey  not  these  rules,  let  them  be 
degraded  from  the  Diaconate. 

Canon  19. — If  any  Paulianists  (disciples  of  Paul  of 
Samosata)  return  to  the  Church,  let  them  be  baptized 
anew.  If  any  of  them  have  been  ordained,  let  them, 
if  they  are  of  blameless  conversation,  be  re-baptized 
and  re-ordained  by  the  Catholic  Church. 

This  Canon  seems  to  be  grounded  on  the  presump- 
tion that  baptism  administered  by  those  who  denied 
our  Lord's  Divinity,  and,  by  consequence,  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  is  110  Baptism. 

Canon  20. — Inasmuch  as  there  are  some  persons 
who  kneel  on  the  Lord's  Day/  and  in  the  days  of 
Pentecost  (i.  e.  between  Easter  and  Whitsuntide),  the 
Holy  Synod  orders  that  they  should  pray  standing, 
in  order  that  the  same  custom  may  be  observed  in 
all  dioceses. 

As  to  the  Marriage  of  the  Clergy,  It  was  proposed 
by  some  at  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  that  a  "  new  Law," 
as  Socrates  calls  it,  should  be  Introduced,  forbidding 
Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons  to  cohabit  with  the 
wives  they  had  married  before  their  ordination. 
Paphnutlus  '^  the  Confessor*  "  Bishop  of  a  See  in  the 
upper  Thebais,  arose  in   the   midst  of  the  assembly, 

^  The  attitude  of  standing  was  regarded  as  significant  of  our  L  ^rd's 
rising  from  the  grave,  commemorated  on  the  Lord's  Day  and  at 
Eastertide. 

*  Socrat.  i.  1 1.  Sozomen,  i.  23.  The  trutli  of  this  narrative  is 
questioned  by  Cardinal  Baronius  ;  but  it  is  accepted  by  such  moderate 
and  learned  Roman  Catholics  as  Fleury,  iii.  p.  125,  and  Tillemont,  vi. 
pp.  677,  821.  On  the  celibacy  of  the  Clergy  see  Bingham's  Anti- 
quities, iv.  5. 


458  ON  THE  MARRIAGE  OF  THE  CLERGY- 

EPISCOPAL  ENCYCLIC. 

and  protested  with  much  earnestness  that  so  heavy 

a  yoke  ought  not  to  be  imposed  upon  them,  for  (said 

he)  "  Marriage  is   honourable  in  all,  and  the  bed  un- 

defiled  "  (Heb.  xiii.  4),  and  he  exhorted  them  to  take 

care  not  to  hurt  the  Church  by  too    much   rigour  ; 

for  all   men    have  not   the    gift  of   continency,  and 

their  wives  would  thus  be  exposed   to  the  danger  of 

losing  the  chastity  which  they  have  in  marriage,  for 

cohabitation  with  a  lawful  wife  he  called  chastity  ; 

and  it  was  sufficient  that  they  who  had  not  contracted 

marriage   before    ordination    should    abstain  from    it 

after  ordination.     But  no  person,  he  added,  ought  to 

be  separated  from  his  wife.     Thus  spoke  Paphnutius, 

who  had  always  observed  celibacy,  and  was  famed  for 

his  holiness.     The  whole  Council  (says  the  historian 

Socrates  i.  1 1)  was  persuaded  to  assent  to  what  he  said, 

and  the  question  was  set  at  rest." 

The  Bishops  before  separating  addressed  a 
Synodical  letter  "  to  the  Church  of  Alexandria,  and 
to  all  other  Churches  under  heaven,"  in  which  they 
rendered  thanks  to  God  for  the  refutation  of  heresy, 
and  for  the  suppression  of  blasphemy  against  the  Son 
•of  God  ;  and  in  which  they  exhorted  them  to  rejoice 
together  with  them  in  the  Unity  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  the  true  faith,  and  to  receive  the  Bishop  Alexander 
with  the  honour  due  to  him  ;  and  they  commended 
themselves  to  their  Prayers. 

The  Emperor  Constantine  also  wrote  letters,  in  which 
he  published  the  decrees  of  the  Council ;  one  addressed 
to  all  Churches,  the  other  to  the  Church  of 
Alexandria.'  In  the  former  he  said  that  the  question 
of  the  true  Faith  had  now  been  finally  settled  ;  also 
that  Easter  was  to  be  observed  by  Christians  every- 
1  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  iii.  17  and  18—20.  Theodoret,  i.  9.    Socrat.i.  9. 


LETTERS  OF  CONSTANTINE.  459 

where  on  the  same  day.  In  the  latter  he  expressed 
himself  with  vehement  language  on  the  heretical 
blasphemies  of  Arianism,  contrary  to  the  divine 
Scriptures,  and  to  our  holy  Faith  in  our  Saviour,  our 
hope,  and  our  life.  He  ascribed  these  impieties  to 
the  instigation  of  the  Evil  One,  and  prayed  that  God 
would  pardon  Arius,  whom  in  an  Imperial  Edict  he 
compared  to  Porphyry  the  sceptic,  and  whom  he 
condemned  to  banishment  in  Illyria,  with  his  two 
Episcopal  adherents,  Secundus  and  Theonas.^ 

He  exhorted  them  to  receive  the  faith  set  forth  by 
the  Council,  as  no  other  than  the  sentence  of  the  Son 
of  God  Himself,  giving  them  the  Holy  Spirit  to  guide 
them,  and  to  declare  by  them  the  Will  of  God. 

.  Before  we  quit  the  Council  of  Nic^a,  we  cannot  omit 
to  observe,  that  it  was  memorable  not  only  as  declara- 
tory of  the  true  doctrine  on  the  Eternal  Godhead 
of  Christ,  the  Divine  Head  of  the  Church,  but  also 
as  representing  to  the  world  what  the  Church  herself 
had  received  from  Him,  and  from  the  Holy  Apostles, 
concerning  her  own  form  of  Government  and  Polity. 

And  ^  first  negatively,  as  to  zvhat  her  form  of 
Government  was  not  to  be. 

The  advocates  of  the  Roman  Papacy  assert  the 
following  propositions  : — 

I.  That  the  Bishop  of  Rome  is  the  Supreme  Head 
of  the  Church,  and  her  Infallible  Guide. 

2  Athanas.  Orat.  iv.  in  Arian.  p.  468.  Subsequently,  Constantine 
banished  Eusebius  of  Niconiedia,  and  Theognis  of  Nicoea  (although  they 
had  subscribed  the  Creed),  because  they  declined  to  sign  the  anathema 
against  Arius  :  but  there  seem  to  have  been  political  reasons  for  his 
antipathy  to  the  former.  Constantin.  Epist.  ad  Nicomed,  in  Labbe's 
Concilia,  ii.  283  ;  cp.  Theodoret,  i.  19  ;  Socr.  i.  9  ;  Sozomen,  i.  21. 
Both  of  them,  and  Arius  also,  were  recalled  from  exile  in  a.d.  328  or  329. 


460  MODERN  ROMAN  ALLEGATIONS  REFUTED  BY 
THE  COUNCIL  OF  NIC^A. 

2.  That  to  him,  and  to  him  alone,  appertains  the 
right  of  summoning  Councils  of  the  Church ;  and 
also  of  presiding  in  them  either  personally  or  by  his 
delegates. 

3.  That  the  authority  of  the  decrees  of  all  Church 
Councils  depends  entirely  on  his  approval  of  them, 
and  is  derived  from  that  approval.^ 

4.  That  all  Bishops,  in  all  Councils,  derive  their 
authority  from  him  ;  and  that  they  are  what  they  are 
"  by  the  grace  of  the  Apostolic  See."  "* 

Such  are  the  present  claims  of  the  Roman 
Papacy. 

But  all  these  assertions  are  disproved  by  the 
Council  of  Nicaea,  the  first  General  Council  of  the 
Christian  Church.^ 

The  Nicene  Council  was  not  summoned  by  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  but  by  the  Emperor  Constantine. 
The  Bishop  of  Rome  did  not  preside  at  the  Nicene 
Council  ;  he  was  not  present  at  it  ;  nor  did  his 
legates  preside  in  it.  It  is  probable  that  Hosius, 
Bishop  of  Corduba,  was  president  of  it ;  but  it  is 
certain  that  Silvester,  Bishop  of  Rome,  did  not 
preside  in  it,  either  in  person  or  by  deputy. 

The  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Nicaea  did  not  wait 
for  the  approval  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome.     They  were 

•^  All  these  propositions  may  be  seen  in  Cardinal  Bellarmine's  work 
de  Su  nmo  Pontifice,  where  he  says  (lib.  iv  c.  i — 3),  "  Tota  firniitas 
Conciliorum  est  de  Pontifice,"  and  in  his  Treatise  de  Conciliis,  lib.  i. 
c.  12,  19,  and  lib.  ii.  c.  2,  17.  These  treatises  may  be  found  in  the 
first  two  Volumes  of  his  Dissertationes  de  Controversiis,  ed.  Colon.  1615. 

^  Bisho  Pearson,  Academic  Lectures,  p.  434,  says  truly,  "  Unius 
Pontificis  potestas  reliquorum  omnium  Antistitum  jus  eripuit, — 
absorpsit. 

*  They  are  likewise  disproved  by  the  following  General  Councils — 
of  Constantinople,  Ephesus,  and  Chalcedon.  The  evidence  of  this 
may  be  seen  in  Theophilus  Anglicanus,  Part  iii.  chaps,  v.  and  vi. 


WITXESS  OF  THE  NIC  EN E  COUNCIL   TO  461 

EPISCOPACY. 

promulgated  in  letters  of  Constantine  and  of  the 
Council  itself  to  the  various  Churches,  before  they 
were  received  by  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  In  these 
letters  announcing  these  decrees  there  is  no  refer- 
ence to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  or  to  any  assent  on  his 
part  to  them.® 

The  Council  of  Nicaea  is  therefore  an  autjientic 
protest  of  the  ancient  Church  Universal  against  the 
present  assumptions  of  the  Roman  Papacy. 

The  Nicene  Council  is  also  important  positively,  as 
showing  what  form  of  Government  the  Church  (which 
is  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  to  which  He  promised  His 
presence,  and  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
which  therefore  could  not  have  been  in  error  in  that 
momentous  matter)  believed  herself  to  have  received 
from  her  Divine  Lord. 

That  form  of  Government  was  Episcopal. 

The  Council  of  Nicaea  consisted  of  Bishops.  Even 
the  Presbyters  and  Deacons  there  present  were  wit- 
nesses to  Episcopacy,  for  (as  the  case  of  CoUuthus, 
just  before  the  meeting  of  the  Council,  showed  ;  see 
above,  p.  447)  they  would  not  have  been  recognized 
as  Presbyters  and  Deacons,  unless  they  had  been 
ordained  by  Bishops.  They  would  have  been  regarded 
as  laymen. 

The  following  facts  are  presented  to  us  by  the 
Nicene  Council.  We  see  there  318  persons,  all 
Bishops,  summoned  by  the  Emperor  of  the  Roman 
World,  as  representatives  of  their  respective  Churches, 
in  every  part  of  it.  They  came  from  Scythia, 
Armenia,  Persia,  and  Mesopotamia  in  the  north  and 

^  The  so-called  correspondence  between  Hosius  and  Silvester  with 
the  view  to  the  Confirmation  of  the  decrees,  which  is  in  Labbe's  Con- 
cilia, ii.  58,  is  acknowledged  by  Labbe  to  be  spurious. 


462     THE  COUNCIL  A   WITNESS  AGAINST  NON- 
EPISCOPAL  ORDINA  TIONS ;  AND  ERASTIANISM. 

east,  and  from  Egypt,  Arabia,  Dalmatia,  Calabria, 
Gaul,  and  Spain  in  the  south  and  west.  They  alone 
were  recognized  as  the  Guides  and  Governors  of  the 
Church.  No  other  persons  were  regarded  as  having 
any  co-ordinate  authority  with  them.  The  constitu- 
tion of  the  Synod  itself — the  subscriptions  of  names ' 
attached  to  its  decrees — all  prove  that  the  form  of 
Government  of  the  ancient  Catholic  Church  of  Christ 
was  Episcopal. 

Therefore  the  Nicene  Council  may  be  regarded  as 
a  witness  against  the  novelties  of  the  Papacy  of  the 
one  side,  and  of  Presbyterianism,  Independency, 
Methodism,  and  all  other  similar  modern  forms  of 
Church  Government  on  the  other.  And  it  affords 
clear  evidence  in  favour  of  the  Antiquity  and  Divine 
Institution  of  Episcopacy. 

There  is  also  another  form  of  Church  polity,  com- 
monly called  Erastianism^  Avhich  subordinates  the 
spiritual  power  to  the  temporal.  This  is  likewise  dis- 
proved by  the  Council  ofNicsea.  The  Council  was 
summoned  by  the  Emperor  Constantine  ;  and  when 
the  Roman  Empire  had  become  Christian,  the  right  of 
convening  General  Councils  was  recognized  as  belong- 
ing to  the  Emperor.  But  the  Civil  Ruler  had  no  part 
in  the  Consecration  of  those  Bishops  who  were  sum- 
moned to  the  Council,,  and  of  whom  the  Council  con- 
sisted. Also,  the  Creed  which  was  framed  at  Nicaea 
was  indeed  promulgated  by  the  Emperor,  but  it  had 

^  They  may  be  seen  in  Labbe's  Concilia,  ii.  pp.  50—54. 

8  So  called  from  Erastus,  a  physician  at  Heidelberg,  whose  work  on 
Church  Government  appeared  in  1589.  "  Censebant  Erastiani  "  (says 
Buddeus,  Isag.  i.  p.  828)  "  Ecclesiam  Magistratui  Christiano  subjectam 
omnem  auctoritatem  ex  mera  Magistratus  delegatione  usurpare  ;'"  and 
cp.  Hooker,  Preface  ii.  9.  Hobbes  of  JNIalmesbury  propagated  the  same 
opinions. 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  NICENE  COUNCIL—     463 
RETROSPECT— CHRIST S  PROMISES  TO  THE  CHURCH. 

been  framed  and  subscribed  by  the  Bishops,^  and  by 

them    alone.      It   was   their   work.     The    Emperor's 

name  does  not  appear  in  the  subscriptions  which  are 

appended  to  the  Nicene  Creed.^ 

Not  only  then  the  Creed .  and  Canons  of  the  first 

General  Council,  but  also    its  Constitution,  and  the 

principles    and    rules    of  procedure    in    that   Council 

deserve  the  careful  attention  of  students  of  Church 

History   and    of   Ecclesiastical   Law.      When    taken 

together,  they  are  clear  and  authentic  exponents  of 

the  Doctrine  and  Discipline  of  the  ancient  Catholic 

Church. 

Here,  then,  we  may  pause  for  the  present.  We 
have  been  tracing  the  History  of  the  Church  for  nearly 
three  Centuries  from  the  time  when  her  Divine 
Founder  said  that  He  would  build  His  Church  upon 
Himself  confessed  to  be  the  Christ,  and  to  be  God 
and  Man,  and  that  the  Gates  of  Hell  would  never 
prevail  against  her ;  and  that  He  would  send  the 
Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter  to  teach  her  all  things,  and 
to  guide  her  into  all  truth,  and  to  abide  with  her  for 
ever;  and  that  He  Himself  would  be  with  her  always, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 

We  have  seen  how  these  words  of  Christ  began 
to  be  fulfilled  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost  by  the  Coming 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  heaven,  and  by  the  wonder- 
ful effects  of  Apostolic  preaching  on  that  day.  We 
have  seen  how  the  Powers  of  Evil  issued  forth  "  from 

^  The  form  of  subscription  was  as  follows  :  —  "  Osius  Episcopus 
civitatis  Cordubensis  provinciae  Hispaniae  dixit.  Ita  credo  sicut  superius 
scriptum  est." 

'  At  some  later  Councils  princes  and  nobles  sometimes  subscribed 
their  names,  ' '  Ego  N.  cojisentiens  subscripsi. "  The  Episcopal  formula 
was  "  Ego  X.  iL'ji7iuns  subscripsi."     See  my  note  on  Acts  xv.  23. 


464   FULFILMENT  OF  CHRIST S  PROMISES  TO  THE 
CHUR  CH—RE  TR  OSPECT—PERSE'C  UI  ION— MAR  TYRS. 

the  gates  of  hell/'  and  endeavoured  to  "prevail  against" 
the  Church,  first  by  stirring  up  the  Jews  to  persecute 
her,  in  the  imprisonment  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  John  at 
Jerusalem  ;  in  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen  and  of 
St.  James  the  Apostle,  and  afterwards  of  St.  James 
the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  sufferings  of  other 
Apostles  at  their  hands  ;  and  how  all  these  attacks 
were  overruled  by  Almighty  God  for  the  clearer  dis- 
play of  the  power  of  Divine  Grace,  and  for  the  mani- 
festation of  the  Divine  glory,  and  for  spreading  forth 
the  Truth  ;  and  how  He  raised  up  Christian  Apologists 
who  interpreted  the  History  of  the  Old  Testament, 
its  Sacrifices  and  Prophecies,  and  proved  that  they 
were  ministerial' and  manuductory  to  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  and  had  their  fulfilment  in  it. 

We  have  seen  how  the  sword  of  Persecution  was 
next  wielded  by  Imperial  Rome,  in  order  to  destroy 
the  Church  of  God.  We  have  seen  how  the  blood  of 
her  Martyrs  was  the  seed  of  a  spiritual  harvest  ;  and 
how  the  fires  Avhich  were  lighted  up  to  consume  her 
served  only  to  display  more  brightly  the  truth  of  the 
religion  for  which  they  died,  and  which  enabled  them 
to  rejoice  in  their  sufferings. 

We  have  seen  how  the  Church  of  Christ  was  next 
assailed  by  the  more  formidable  attacks  of  Heretics 
rising  up  within  her  own  Communion.  Some  of 
these  false  Teachers  placed  the  God  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  "antagonism  to  the  God  of  the  New,  and 
obscured  the  love  of  the  Redeemer  by  condemning 
the  work  of  the  Creator.  Others  separated  Jesus  from 
the  Christ,  -and  severed  both  from  God.  Others 
claimed  supernatural  knowledge,  superior  to  that  which 
is  imparted  by  Divine  Revelation,  and  assumed  for 
themselves  and  their  votaries  spiritual  sufficiency  and 


CHAMPIONS  AGAINST  HERESY-MORAL  CHANGE A&h 
WROUGHT  BY  CHRISTIANITY. 

supremacy  apart  from  faith  in  Holy  Scripture  as 
interpreted  by  the  Catholic  Church,  and  renounced 
all  allegiance  to  the  moral  code  of  Christianity,  and 
even  of  natural  Religion.  We  have  seen  that  these 
had  the  effect  of  raising  up  Champions  to  maintain 
the  one  true  Faith,  taught  in  both  Testaments,  and 
committed  to  the  keeping  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
by  unadulterated  tradition  in  uninterrupted  suc- 
cession from  Christ  and  His  Holy  Apostles,  and 
declared  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Undivided 
Trinity,  Three  Persons  and  One  God  ;  and  of  the 
two  Natures  of  God  and  Man  joined  together  for 
ever  in  the  One  Person  of  Christ,  God  of  God,  Light 
of  Light,  Very  God  of  Very  God. 

We  have  seen  also  how  the  pleadings  of  Christian 
Apologists  for  the  Faith  against  Jewish  and  Gentile 
opponents,  and  how  the  Sufferings  of  Christian  Mar- 
tyrs— aged  men,  and  weak  women,  as  well  as  the 
youthful  and  strong, — and  the  fulfilment  of  Prophecies, 
were  allied  with  the  powerful  and  persuasive  argu- 
ment of  the  moral,  social,  and  spiritual  influence  of 
Christianity,  as  contrasted  with  Heathenism,  in  daily 
life  and  manners,  in  the  purification  of  the  Body,  and 
in  the  sanctification  of  Marriage,  and  in  the  eleva- 
tion of  Womanhood,  and  in  the  household  charities 
of  conjugal  affection,  and  parental  and  filial  love, 
and  in  the  gradual  abolition  of  Slavery,  and  in  the 
ransoming  of  Captives,  and  in  acts  of  mercy  and  love 
to  the  sick  and  dying  in  Hospitals,  and  in  times  of 
Plagues,  Pestilences,  and  Famines  ;  and  how  these 
things  preached  the  Divine  Truth  of  Christianity  with 
silent  eloquence,  and  won  for  it  a  thousand  hearts  ;  and 
how  it  evangelized  towns  and  villages,  and  gained  a 

H  h 


466  THE  LAST  PERSECUTION— DONA  TISTIC  SCHISM 
AND  ARIAN  HERESY. 

home  for  it  In  Camps  and  Palaces,  and  at  last  on  the 

Throne  of  the  Caesars. 

The  last  struggle  of  the  Enemy  against  the  Church, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  was  the  fiercest 
of  all.  The  persecution  under  the  Emperors  Diocle- 
tian and  Galerius,  A.D.  303,  was  more  general  and 
violent  than  any  other,  and  it  was  renewed  under 
Maximinus  and  Maxentius.  But  it  was  quelled  by 
the  power  of  God,  in  a  wonderful  manner,  cutting  off 
the  Authors  of  the  persecution  at  a  time  when  the 
Church  appeared  to  be  on  the  brink  of  destruction  by 
their  hands." 

When  Constantine  had  quenched  the  fires  of  per- 
secution, and  had  inserted  the  Name  of  Christ,  and 
had  engraved  the  Cross,  on  the  Standards  of  the 
Empire,  the  Church  was  distracted  by  one  of  the  most 
plausible  and  inveterate  of  Schisms,  that  of  Donatism, 
and  by  one  of  the  most  subtle  and  deadly  of  Heresies, 
favoured  by  potent  advocates,  secular,  and  ecclesias- 
tical,— that  of  Arianism. 

Both  of  these  were  restrained  by  divine  power 
acting  in  the  Councils  of  the  Church, — Donatism  at 
Aries  (in  A.D.  314),  and  Arianism  at  Nicsea  (A.D.  325). 
And  although  it  pleased  God  to  allow  the  decrees  of 
Aries,  and  the  Creed  of  Nicaea,  to  be  exposed  to  mani- 
fold perils  in  subsequent  conflicts,  yet  these  under 
God's  good  providence  tended  to  exercise  and 
strengthen  the  faith  and  patience  of  the  Church,  and 
were  made  ministerial  to  the  edification  of  her  people, 
and  to  the  surer  confirmation  and  clearer  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Truth. 

2  The  Work  of  Lactantius  (the  tutor  of  Crispus,  the  son  of  Constan- 
tine) "de  Mortibus  Persecutorum,"  written  soon  after  the  events  it 
describes,— however  affected  by  some  secular  influences, — is  an  authentic 
record  of  providential  interpositions  at  that  crisis  of  the  history  of  the 
Church. 


COUNCIL    OF  NIC^A—ITS   PLACE   IN   CHURCH  ^'ol 
ILIS TORY— ITS  PROPHETICAL  CHARACTER. 

Those  conflicts  led   to  noble  conquests,  and  those 

trials  were  consummated  in  glorious  triumphs.  Dona- 

tism  called  forth  an  Augustine   in  Africa  ;  Arianism 

was  confronted  and  routed   by  an  Athanasius  in  the 

East,  and  by  a  Hilary  and  an  Ambrose  in  the  West. 

Let  us  look  forward  and  reflect  what  followed  the 
Council  of  Nicaea,  and  how  what  was  there  done 
by  Christ,  present  in  His  Church,  and  by  the  guid- 
ance and  teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  after- 
wards maintained  and  amplified  at  the  subsequent 
General  Councils  of  the  Church,  at  Constantinople, 
Ephesus,  and  Chalcedon,  and  has  remained  unmoved 
in  Eastern  and  Western  Christendom  for  more  than 
1500  years  to  this  day. 

When,  therefore,  we  look  at  the  Council-Cham.ber 
of  Nicaea  hallowed  by  the  assembly  of  more  than  300 
Bishops,  many  of  them  Confessors  of  the  Faith,  and 
scarred  with  wounds  received  in  its  defence ;  and 
when  we  behold  that  Council-Chamber  adorned  with 
the  august  presence  of  the  Emperor  of  the  Roman 
World,  who  had  been  raised  up  by  Almighty  God  to 
be  an  instrument  in  His  hands  for  the  overthrow  of 
Heathenism  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  at  Rome,  and 
— like  Cyrus  on  the  Euphrates  at  Babylon — for  the 
deliverance  of  His  people,  we  may  regard  that 
Council-Chamber  as  a  peaceful  resting-place  of  the 
Church,  after  a  weary  journey,  and_  as  a.  calm 
harbour  after  a  stormy  voyage. 

But  that  Council  at  Nicaea  may  be  regarded  as 
something  more ;  even  as  a  typical  image,  and  a 
prophetical  foreshadowing,  revealing  bright  gleams 
and  glimpses  of  the  final  consummation  of  all  things. 
The  Church  had  then  passed  through  the  fiercest 
H  h  2 


468  THE  SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  CHURCH  CONSUMMATED 
IN  PEACE  AND  GLORY. 

conflict,  and  had  come  forth  from  the  most  terrible 
of  all  Persecutions.  She  had  emerged  from  a  tem- 
pestuous sea  of  rage  and  blasphemy  against  Christ. 

Such  she  may  look  for  again,  in  the  days  of  Anti- 
christ, on  the  eve  of  the  Second  Advent  of  Christ. 

Her  perils  by  Persecution  from  without,  before 
the  Council  of  Nicsea,  were  aggravated  by  Schisms 
and  Heresies  from  within.  Such  also  will  be  the 
destiny  of  the  Church  in  the  latter  days.  It  is  even 
now  at  hand. 

Those  events  in  the  fourth  century  were  over- 
ruled for  her  good.  They  led  to  the  Creed  of  Nicaea, 
in  which  the  Church  declared  her  Faith,  received  from 
Holy  Scripture  and  from  Primitive  Tradition,  in  the 
Eternal  Godhead  of  Him  Who  had  died  for  her  on 
the  Cross,  and  had  redeemed  her  from  her  sins,  and 
had  purchased  her  with  His  own  Blood,  and  had 
risen  in  power  from  the  dead,  and  had  ascended  in 
triumph  into  Heaven  ;  and  Who  had  gone  to  prepare 
an  eternal  mansion  for  her;  and  Who  sitteth  at 
God's  right  Hand  in  glory ;  and  to  Whom  all  power 
is  given  in  heaven  and  on  earth  ;  and  Who  will  put  all 
things  under  His  feet ;  and  Who  will  hereafter  come 
again  to  receive  her  to  Himself,  so  that  she  may  be 
ever  with  the  Lord. 

The  course  of  the  Church  just  before  the  Council 
of  Nicsea  was — if  we  may  be  allowed  the  comparison 
— like  that  of  a  troubled  river  dashing  down  headlong 
in  the  foam  and  spray  of  a  rocky  cataract,  but  soon 
to  be  received  into  the  bosom  of  a  calm  and  pellucid 
lake,  reflecting  in  a  mirror  the  beauty  of  the 
heavenly  vault  above  it,  and  an  emblem  of  the  peace 
of  Eternity. 

At    the    Council  of   Nicaea   the    Emperor    of  the 


VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE.  469 

Roman  World  received  and  professed  the  faith  in 
God  Incarnate,  and  he  promulgated  it  throughout 
the  Empire.  And  thus  was  revealed  to  the  eyes  of 
the  iaithful  a  Vision  of  the  future  time  when  Jesus 
Christ  will  be  acknowledged  to  be  "  King  of  Kings, 
and  Lord  of  Lords"  (Rev.  xix.  i6)  ;  and  when  "all 
Kings  shall  bow  down  before  Him,  all  Nations  shall 
do  Him  service  "  (Ps.  Ixxii.  ii)  ;  and  when  the  Voice 
will  be  heard  in  Heaven,  "  The  Kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of 
His  Christ"  iRev.  xi.  15). 

The  maintenance  of  that  Faith  unaltered  and  un- 
alterable for  more  than  1 500  years  against  all  external 
assaults,  and  among  all  intestine  strifes  of  the  Church, 
amid  the  revolutions  of  States,  and  the  wreck  of 
Thrones,  and  overthrow  of  earthly  Dynasties,  and  the 
passing  away  of  worldly  Empires,  is  a  visible  sign 
and  witness  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  her 
Divine  Lord  to  her,  and  an  unfailing  source  of  in- 
expressible comfort  and  joy  to  all  her  faithful 
children,  in  all  the  troubles  of  this  life,  when  they  re- 
member His  own  Words,  "  Lo  !  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  End  of  the  World"  (Matt,  xxviii.  20). 


Aofa  Tct  0€63. 


INDEX. 


^ONS  (see  Valentinus),  204, 

Agnosticism,  210. 

Alban,  S.,  Martyrdom  of,  384. 

Cathedral  of,  386. 

Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  423. 

his  treatment  of  Arius,  434. 

Arius'  Letter  to  him,  438. 

—  -  refutes  Arianism,  443. 

states  the  true  Faith,  444. 

Alexandria,  Birthplace  of  Theological 
Science,  250. 

(see  Clement  of). 

(see  Dionysius  of). 

Council  at,  447. 

Almsgiving,  S.  Cyprian's  Treatise  on, 

346. 
Ambrosius,  Patron  of  Origen,  270. 
America,  Church  of,  ix. 
Ancyra,  Council  of,  411. 
Angels,  a  name  for  Bishops,  44. 

— Epistles  to  the  seven,  43. 

Anicetus,  160,  161. 

Ante-Nicene  Councils,  Inferences  from, 

388. 
Anthony,  S.,  The  Hermit,  and  Atha- 

nasius,  431,  434. 
Antichrist,  described  by  S.IrenKUS,23i. 
Antinous,  divinized  by  Hadrian,  149. 
Antioch,  Council  of,  397. 

condemns  Paul  of 

Samosata,  400. 
Antipope,  Novatian  the  first,  31 1. 
Antoninus  Pius,  The  Emperor,  149. 
Apollonius,     compared    by    Hierocles 

with  Jesus  Christ,  373. 
Apologists,  Christian  :    Tertullian,   93, 
124. 

Justin   INIartyr, 

105,  150. 


Apologists,  Christian  :  Minucius  Felix, 

109. 
Origen,     1 14, 


Melito,  154. 
Athenagoras, 


154- 


—  Miltiades,  154. 

—  Apollinarius, 


154- 


raised    up    to 

maintain  the  true  Faith,  465. 
Apostles,  Commission  to  the,  5. 

Christ    and  the  Holy  Spirit 


acting  in  and  by, 
sometimes  called  Presbyters, 

47- 
Apostolic  Preaching,  The  first,  34. 

Succession,  44,224,  231,  247. 

Canons  and  Constitutions  (so 


called),  413,  416. 

Arian   Controversy  not  a  fi'ivolous  dis- 
pute, 430. 

Arianism,  first  appearance  of,  419. 

has  much  that  is  specious  in 


It,  422. 

Doctrine  of  the    Sacraments 

imperilled  by,  429. 

as  represented  by  Arius,  434. 

its  contradictions,  445. 

and  inconsistencies,  446. 


Arius,  account  of,  419. 

has  many  friends  in  high  station, 

420. 
how   dealt   wilh   by  Alexander, 

434- 

Manifesto  of,  436. 

doctrinal  statement  of,  437. 

Letter  to  Alexander,  438. 


INDEX. 


471 


Ariu.s,  moral  disqualifications  of,  441. 

is  banished  to  Illyria,  459. 

Alios,  Council  of,  407,  466, 
Artemon,  Errors  of,  288. 
Athanasius,  S.,  424. 

and  Constantine,  425. 

on  the  Incarnation,  426. 

on  the   Atonement   and 

Redemption,  428. 

and  S.  Anthony,  431. 

takes  a  leading  part  at 


Nicene  Council,  451. 
Atonement,    Athanasius  on   the,    427, 

428. 
Athletes,  The  tme,  266. 
Attains   of  Pergamos,    Martyrdom  of, 

173- 

Augustan  Age,  Poets  of  the,  20. 

Augustine,  S.,  Bishop  of  Hippo,  and 
the  Donatists,  317. 

on  Porphyry,  366. 

once  an  advocate,  after- 
wards an  opponent,  of  Manichaean- 
ism,  372. 

and    S.    Anthony,    432 


(see  note). 
Aurelius,  Marcus,  The  Emperor,  154. 

Babylon,  The  literal,  36. 
Baldwin,  Francis,  109. 
Baptism,  Sacrament  of  Holy,  52. 

Types  of,  53. 

Tertullian  on,  55. 

Lay,  56,  403. 

Infant,  57. 

Ancient  Doctrine  on,  62. 

Plomily  of  S.  Hippolytus  on, 


views  of  S.  Cyprian  on,  313, 
and  of  Stephen,  Bp,  of  Rome, 
Heretical,  declared  valid,  317, 


315- 


15. 


408. 


Canons  concerning,  413. 
Basilides,  a  contemporary  of  Saturninus, 

195- 

Heresy  of,  258. 

Bethesda,  Pool  of,  illustrative  of  Bap- 
tism, 53. 

Biblias,  Martyrdom  of,  174. 

Bishops,  Catalogue  of  Primitive,  44. 

Successors  of  the  Apostles,  47. 

Institution  of  Order  of,  48. 


Bishops,  sometimes  called  Presbyters, 
48. 

Delinquent,  to  be  judged  in 

their  own  Provinces,  50. 

Canons  concerning,  403,  40S, 

411,  413'  456. 

Blandina,  a  Christian  Slave,  Martyr- 
dom of,  173,  382, 

Body,  Resurrection  of  the,  103,  231. 

Caecilianus,  elected  Bishop  of  Carthage, 
404. 

his  Consecration  declared 

valid,  406. 

Cainites,  192. 

Callistus,  Bishop  of  Rome,  289. 

Calvinism,  some  tenets  of,  anticipated 
by  Valentinus,  207. 

Canons  and  Constitutions,  The  Apos- 
tolic, 413. 

of  Councils,  Remarks  on,  417. 

Captives,  Christian  treatment  of,  349. 

Carpocrates,  The  Gnostic,  191,  251. 

Carthage,  Synods  of,  315. 

Celibacy,  S.  Clement  on,  260. 

why  prevalent  amongst  the 

Romans,  329. 

Celsus,  Oiigen's  arguments  against,  1 14. 
Cerinthus  refuted  by  St.  John,  1S9,  226. 
Childlessness    amongst    the    Romans, 

.329- 

Christ  and  Moses,  6. 
Christian    Assemblies,  description   of, 
99. 

Home,  A,  S,    Clement   on, 


332. 

Morals,     Pliny's     testimony 

to,  325. 

Soldiers,  377. 

Christian,  Portrait  of  a,  106. 
Christianity,   Lateness    of    appearance 

of,  32,  324- 

-  Popular  objections  against, 


89. 


94. 


95- 


False  charges  against,  92. 
Apologies   for   (see   note). 

Rapid  growth  and  fruits  of, 

contrasted  with  Heathen- 


ism, 


Replies  of,  againstHeathen- 

ism,  112. 
Evidences  for,  119. 


472 


INDEX. 


Christianity,  Pliny's  description  of,  123. 

Valentinus  on,  207. 

Defenders  of,  against  here- 
sy, 213. 

■ the  only  true  gnosis,  261. 

Evidences  for,  from  Chris- 
tians" lives,  324. 

Change  wrought  in  Domes- 


tic Society  by,  330. 
• Practical   working    of,    as 

contrasted    with    Heathenism,     34-?, 

350. 
"  (^nristianos  ad  Leonem,"  loi. 
Christians,  Charges  against  the,  92. 

Loyalty  of  the,  98,  376. 

Church,  Christ's  promise  to  the,  2. 

-  Mixed  condition  of  the,  2,  3. 

Christ's  prophecies  concerning, 


Holy  Spirit  given  to  build  up 

the,  6,  463. 

Character  and  office  of  the,  7. 

Future  destinies  of  the,  9. 

Future  conflicts  and  final  glory 

of  the,  Preface  xi  —  xiv,  10,  467. 

Earthly    Empires  preparatory 

to  the,  12. 

Hebrew  and  Greek  Institutions 


preparatory  to  the,  14. 
■ Greece  and  Rome  ministerial 

to  the,  16. 

Assemblies,  64,  100. 

Hostile  Assaults  on,  overruled 

for  good,  69,   87,  191,  339,  366,  375, 

386. 
Persecutions    against  the,  70, 

77,  82,  123. 
the  true  Interpreter  of   Holy 

Scripture,  243. 
Contrast  of  Heresy  and   the, 

249. 
' one  only  from  the  beginning, 

Pref.  xi — xiv,  256. 
English  Reformers  did  not  set 

up  a  new,  321. 
■ The  whole  cannot  fail,  any  part 

may,  389. 

Blessings  from  the    work    of 


Christ   and  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the, 

396. 
Struggle  of  the,  with  Arianism 

419. 

Discipline,  Canons  on,  454. 

Government,  Episcopal,  462. 


Church  Histoiy,  Retrospect  of,  463. 

Uses  of,  322. 

Churches  and  Ministers,  Teriullian  on, 

245- 

—  Apostolic  Appeal  to,  248. 


Cicero,  20,  22. 

Cirtha,  Council  of,  401. 

Civil  Power,    Obedience  to,  inculcated 

by  Christianity,  375 
Civilians,    Christian,  their  relations  to 

heathen  Pi-inces,  379. 
Claudius,  Martyrdom  of,  383. 
Clement,  S.,  Presbyter  of  Alexandria, 

251—261. 
Defence    of    the    Church 


against  Gnosticism,  213,  255. 
Head       of      Theolot 


ical 


School, 


252. 

Hortatory  Address  to  the 

heathen,  254. 

Hymn  of,  255. 

Strom ata  of,  256. 

Inferences   as    to  Heresy, 


256. 


259- 


—  on  the  duty  of  Martyrdom, 
—  on    marriage,   a1:)Stinence, 


and  temperance,  260,  267. 
on  true  and  false  Gnosis 


261. 


anticipates  Hooker,  262. 

on  Justification,  263, 

on  the  true  Gnostic,  265. 

Daily   Life    of    Christian 

Gnostic — an     Athlete— a     Temple, 

266,  267. 
on  the  Christian's  conduct 

towaids  others,  and  union  with  God, 

268. 
Clement,  S,,  Bishop  of  Rome,  82. 

Epistle  of,  84. 

Clementines,  The,  29,  202,  212. 
Cleomenes,  IJisciple  of  Noetus,  146. 
Clergy,  Marriage  of  the,  457. 
Colluthus   condemned    by    Council  of 

Alexandria,  447. 
Colosseum    at    Rome,    Martyrdom    of 

S.  Ignatius  in,  146. 

Origin  of  name,  147. 


Communion,  Holy  (see  Eucharist),  57. 
Confirmation,  Institution  of,  66. 
Conjugal  unfaithfulness,  328. 
Constantia,  recommends   Arius  to  her 
brother  Constantine,  420. 


lADEX. 


473 


ConsLantine,  Arch  of,  147. 
his    Vision   of  the   Cross, 

357- 

and  Cyrus  compared,  360. 

Appeals  to,  407,  409. 

and  Arius,  420. 

summons  an  Oecumenical 

Council,  447. 
— attends  the  Nicene  Council, 

450. 

his    Address   to  those  as- 


Creed,  The  Nicene,  stated  to  have  been 

framed  by  Husius,  448. 
subscribed    by    the 

Bishops,  453 


sembled,  451 

a  supporter  of  those  who 

plead  for  the  term  homoousios,  452. 

promulgates  the  true  Faith, 


458. 


compares 


Arius    to    Por- 


phyry, 459. 

— banishes  Arius  to  Illyria,459. 


Controversies  of  the  tliird  century  in- 
structive to  us,  319. 

Theological,  at  Rome,  287, 

322. 

Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  on  the 
Novatian  Schism,  314, 

Council,    General,  What  constitutes  a, 

391- 

Examples  of,  392. 

Christian  Emperors 

had  the  right  of  convening,  462. 
Council  of  Jerusalem,  35,  'i,'^%. 

Antioch,  396,  400. 

Cirtha,  401. 

Eliberis  or  Elvira,  402. 

Rome,  405, 

Aries,  407. 

Ancyra,  411. 

Neo-Cassarea,  412. 

in  Trullo  (or  Quinisext),  416. 

Laodicaea,  416. 

Alexandria,  434,  447. 

Nicaea,  448. 

Councils,  General  remarks  on,  388, 
Ante  Nicene,  Inferences  from, 


the    Church's     de- 
claration of  Faith,  ^68. 
Creeds,  The  Christian  imperishable,  513. 
The  True  Faith  declared  in  the, 

395- 
Crescens,  Attack  on  Justin  IVIartyr,  156. 
Cyprian,   S.,   Bishop    of  Carthage,  on 

Montanism,  312. 

inadequacy  of  his  opuiions 


on  heretical  Baptism,  313,  315. 

convenes  Synods  and  Coun- 


cils, 3) 


review  of  the,  396. 

No   one    supreme   infallible 

head  in,  388. 

Priests  and  Deacons  at,  397. 


on  care  of  the  Sick,  335. 

tl^e  effects  of  his  own  con- 
version to  Christianity,  330,  350. 

contrasts  Chri.^tiai;ity  with 

Heathenism,  ^tZl- 

on  the  lapsed,  and  on  the 

Martyrs,  338. 

moral  reasons  for  Persecu- 
tion, 339. 

on  plagues  and  death,  340. 

comfort    in    death    to   the 

Christian,  341. 

yearnings    for   the    life    to 

come,  342. 

Example  of,  346. 

on    Almsgiving    and    the 

Offertory,  346. 

on  Christian  captives,  349. 

moral  chantre  in   his  life. 


zi^,  350. 


his  Martyrdom,  317,  351. 


Creed,  The  Ancient,  as  declared  by  S. 

Irenaeus,  218. 

\ by  Tertulh'an,  240. 

— by  GregoiyThau- 

maturgus,  2S3. 


Deacons,  Canons  concerning,  403,  40S, 
411,  456. 

Death  of  Christians,  the  beginning  of 
life,  341. 

Decian  Persecution,  354. 

Demetrius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  inter- 
course with  Origen,  269,  271. 

Development,  Theory  of,  a  character- 
istic of  Gnosticism,  223. 

unknown  to 


S.    Irenaeus     and     Tertullian,     239 

(note). 
Diaconate,  The,  49. 
Diocesan  Episcopacy,  50- 
Diocletian,  Persecution  under,  363,  466. 


47-t 


INDEX. 


Diognetus,  Epistle  to,  105.  I 

Dionysius,    Bishop  of  Alexandria,   his 
arguments  against  Sabellianism,  304. 

view  of  the  Millennium,  305. 

on  Novatianism,  314. 

—  a  peace-maker  in  the  Bap- 
tismal controversy,  316. 

on  a  Pestilence,  343. 

death  of,  397. 


Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  304. 
Discipline,  Canons  concerning  Church, 

402,  454. 
Disestablishment  of  Church,  Pref.  vi — 

viii. 
Divinization,  Man's,  108, 
Divisions,  Religious,  overruled  for  good, 

394- 
Divorce,  328. 

decrees  concerning,  403,  409. 

Doctrine,  Christian,  364. 

The  reception    of  a,   by  the 

whole  Church,  proves  its  Truth,  390. 
Domitian,  The  Emperor,  82,  85. 
Donatism,  Rise  of,  404. 

Hooker  on,  321. 

Donatists,  Canons  concerning,  40S. 
Door,  Christ  the,  139. 
Dualism  and  Emanations,  202. 

Easter,  Decree  of  Council  of  Nicaea  on 

keeping  of,  454. 
Ebionites  or  Nazarenes,  origin  of  name, 

189. 
Elchasaites,  The,  202. 
Eliberis  or  Elvira,  Council  of,  402. 
Emanations,  Theory  of,  203, 
Emperors  and  Apostles,  87. 
Empires,  The  four  great,  12. 
Encratites,  The,  198. 
England,  Church  of,  warnings  for,  319. 
Epicureanism,  17. 

EpiphaneSi  Son  of  Carpocrates-,  1 98, 
Episcopacy,  S.  Ignatius  on,  133. 
Diocesan,  First  example  of, 

35- 

Divine  Institution  of,  462. 

Primitive  witness  to,  43. 

Witness  of  Councils  to,  388. 

Witness  of  Council  of  Ni- 

ccea  to,  461. 
Episcopal    Elections,    principles    with 

regard  to,  50. 
Erastianism,  repugnant  to  the  principles 

of  the  Council  of  Niccea,  462. 


Error,  Variations  and  Evanescence  of, 
214. 

What  is  the  Essence  of?  240. 

"The  Teacher's  Error   is  the 


People's  trial,"  317. 
Eve,    type   of  the    Church,    Pref.   xi., 

3- 

Eucharist,  The  Ploly,  57,  59,  152. 

Oblation  in,  60. 

Primitive  teachins: 


on  the,  62,  135,  229. 


S.  Irenoeus'  view 
of,  228. 
Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Cassarea,  420,  435. 

refutes  Porphyry,  370. 

replies  to  Hierocles,  374. 

favours  Arius,  420,  438. 

delivers  the  opening  address 

at  the  Council  of  Nicsea,  451. 

subscribes    to    the    Nicene 


Creed,  454. 
Eusebius,   Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  420, 

485. 

approves  Arius'  Epistle,  438. 

but  subscribes  Nicene  Creed, 


454- 
banished  by  Constantine,  459 

(see  note). 
Evil,  The  root  of,  194. 

whence  is  it?   199. 

overruled  for  good,  366. 

Faith,  Articles  of  the,  364. 

The  True,  declared  by  the  Church 

in  her  Creeds,  395. 

unaltered  and  unalter- 


able, 469. 
Faith  and  Gnosis,  The  relations  cf,  255, 

277. 
Felicitas,  Martyrdom  of,  177. 
Firmilian,  Bishop  of  Ceesarea,  316,  397. 
Flavianus,  his  Vision  of  Cyprian,  383. 
Future  State,  Valentinus  on  the,  208. 

Gentile   Philosophy,   a  preparation  for 

Christianity,  261. 
Gladiatorial    Shows,    described   by   S. 

Cyprian,  336. 
Gnosis,  Meaning  of  the  word,  181. 

The  true,  182. 

The  Church  has  genuine,  230. 

its  connexion  with  faith,  264, 


Gnostic    Notions  of  Redemption    and 
Matter,  185. 


INDEX. 


475 


Gnosticism,  Origin  of,  i8o,  183. 

not  yet  obsolete,  1S6,  210. 

Schools  of,  187. 

Moral  results  of,  208, 

Christian  Defences  against, 

213. 
Gnostics,  Few  of  their  writings  remain, 

212. 

immorality  of,  221, 


—  The  true,  261,  265. 


Godhead  of  Christ,  107,  120,  364. 
Gospels,  The  four,  S.  Irenaeus  testifies 

to,  226. 
Grace,  Christ  the  Source  of  Sacramental, 

Gi-eek  Empire,  The,   a  preparation  for 

Christianity,  15. 
Gregory,  S., Bishop  ofNyssa,  comments 

on  the   Creed  of  Gregory  Thauma- 

turgus,  284. 
Gregory    Thaumaturgus,     a    pupil    of 

Origen,  274. 

Bishop     of 


Caesarea,  283. 


sion  of  Faith,  283. 


his 


pro 


fes- 


Hierocles,  account  of  his  writings.  373. 
Hippolytus,  S.,   Vindication  ot  Chris- 
tianity, 213. 
Scholar  of  S.  Irenxus, 


Hadrian,  The  Emperor,  '^Z,  148. 

Heathen,  S.  Hippolytus'  Address  to  the, 
302. 

Heathenism  and  Christianity  contrast- 
ed, 324,  337. 

pleas  for,  112. 

Heraclas,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  272. 

Heresies,  Summary  of  early,  221. 

Heresy,  S.  Ignatius  on,  136. 

foretold  in  the  Apocalypse,  17*9. 

Rise  and  growth  of,  179. 

refuted  by   St.    John    and  his 

Scholars,  180. 

Meaning  of  the  word,  181. 

Sinfulness  of,  228. 

foretold,  239. 

Moral  depravity  of,  239. 

• derived  from  Heathen  Philoso- 
phy, 240. 

Novelty  of,  246,  247,  256. 

S.  Hippolytus  on,  295,  301. 

Hooker's  observations  on,  296. 

overnded  for  good,  296,  464. 

Hermas,  Shepherd  of,  85. 

Hermit,  S.  Anthony  the,  430. 
Hexapla   and    Tetrapla,    compiled   by 
Origen,  271. 


285. 


-  Bishop  of  Portus,  285. 
■  Discovery  of  his  Statue, 

-  his  "  Refutation  of  all 
Heresies,"  286,  295. 

-  Providential    position 


286. 


of,  292. 


Unity,"  294. 


Christ,  295,  2C 


297. 


on  Holy  Scripture,  293. 
on    the    "Trinity    in 

on  the  Two  Natures  of 
98. 
on  the  Person  of  Christ, 

on  Baptism,  300. 
against  the    denial  of 


Christ's  Divinity,  301. 
Address    to  the  Hea- 


then, 302. 


IVIartyrdom     of — Pru- 
dentius'  Hymn,  306. 
his  Tomb  and  Statue, 


307. 


tendencies    to    Nova- 

tianism,  308,  312. 

Holy  Baptism  (see  Baptism  and  Sacra- 
ments). 

Communion    (see   Communion, 

Eucharist,  Sacraments). 

Home,  The  Christian,  described  by  S. 
Clement,  332. 

Homoousios,  The  Term,  399,  452. 

Hooker,  Richard,  on  Heresy,  296. 

and  S.  Augustine  on  Donatism 

and  Novatianism,  321. 

on  Church  authority,  417. 

on  the  Arian  controversy,  445. 

Horace,  25,  26,  57,  326. 

Hosius,  Bishop  of  Cordova,  402,  422. 

advises  Constantine  to  sum- 
mon an  CEcumenical  Council,  447. 

said  to  have  taken  the  lead  in 

the  Nicene  Council,  and  to  have 
framed  the  Nicene  Creed,  44S. 

Ignatius,  S.,  Martyrdom  of,  126,  146. 

arraigned  before  Trajan,  1 28. 

Journey    from   Antioch   to 

Smyrna,  129. 


476 


INDEX. 


Ignatius,  S,  Epistles  of,  131. 

Letter  to  Polycarp,  140. 

Epistle  to  the  Romans,  141. 

on  his  Martyrdom,  143. 

"Life  in  Death,"  144. 

Longings    for    future  life, 

145. 

■ goes   from   Portus   Roma- 

nus  to  Rome,  146. 

his  martyrdom  there,  147. 


Incarnation,  Reasons  for,  107. 

affirmed    by    S.    Ignatius, 

136. 

denied  by  Marcion,  201. 

■ affirmed  by  S.Irenreus, 226. 

Treatise  of  S.   Athanasius 


True  doctrine  concerning. 


on,  426. 

428. 

Infallibility,  Papal,  refuted  by  anticipa- 
tion by  S.  Hippolytus,  307  ;  and  by 
Nicene  Council,  459,  460. 

Infanticide,  329. 

Infidelity,  Assaults  of,  366. 

Intermediate  State,  Irenasus  on,  233. 

Iren?eus,  S.,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  213. 

Reminiscences  of  S.  Poly- 


Irenreus,  S.,  on  the  Intermediate  State, 

232. 
Conclusion   of  his  work, 

233- 

James,  St.,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  35. 
Jerome,  S.,  on  Origen,  277. 
Jerusalem,  Council  of,  35,  388. 

-  Mother      Church      of     the 


World,  35. 

Destruction  of,  81,  149. 


Jews,  Dispersion  of  the,  favourable  to 

Christianity,  13. 
expelled     from     Jerusalem      by 

Hadrian,  149. 
John,    St.,    Completed  the    Apostolic 

teaching,  40. 

is  a  Martyr  in  will,  86. 

-  and  Cerinthus,  189,  226. 


Judaism,  The  true  nature  of,  71,  75. 

Uses  of  the   controversy  with, 


carp,  215. 


215- 


Refutation     of     heresies, 
■-  His  character  and  work. 


216. 


Statement      of      Ancient 

Catholic  Creed,  219. 

Deviations    from     it    de- 
scribed by,  220. 

-  on     the    Four     Gospels, 


226. 


cerning  Christ,  227. 


prophecies     con- 
sin  fulness       of 
Heresy  and  Schism,  228. 

Holy    Eucharist, 

229. 

Holy    Scriptures 

and  Christian  Ministry,  230. 

faith  of  the  Pro- 


76. 

Juliana  assists  Origen,  271,  273. 
Justin  Martyr,  29. 
on  the   Old  Testament, 


n- 


155- 


Juvenal,  23. 


Apology  of,  150. 
Dialogue    with  Trypho, 

Martyrdom  of,  156. 


Labarum,  The,  359. 

Lactantius'     account     of      Hierocles, 

on  the  Vision  of  Con- 


phets,  231. 


the  Body,  231. 


Christ,  23] 


Resurrection  of 
Second  Adam — 
"Last    Things," 


232. 


stantine,  357. 
Laodicsea,  Council  of,  416. 
"  Last  Things,"  S.  Irenceus  on  the,  232. 
"Latter   Days."     Pref.  xiii. — xv.,    ii, 

468. 
Laurence,  Archdeacon  of  Rome,  306. 
on    the    Treasures   of    the 

Church,  34S. 

Martyrdom  of,  349,  383. 


Lay  Baptism,  56,  403. 

Laying  on  of  Hands  (see  Confirma- 
tion). 

Literatui"e,  Greek  and  Roman,  pre- 
paratory to  Christianity,  26. 

Lord's  Day,  Primitive  observance  of, 
62,  64,  152,  404. 

Supper  (see  Eucharist  and  Holy 

Communion). 


INDEX, 


477 


Loyalty  inculcated  by  Christianity,  375. 
Lucian,  27. 

the  Voltaire  of  the   second  cen- 
tury, 396. 
Lucretius,  21. 

Maccabees,  Heroism  of  the,  31. 

Magic,  28. 

Majorinus,  the  Donatist  Bishop  of 
Carthage,  317,  405. 

Manes  promotes  Scepticism,  371. 

Manicheism,  S.  Augustine  and,  198,372. 

Marcion,  The  heretic,  161,  198,  225,  259. 

and  Rationalism, 

199. 

has  many  fol- 
lowers now,  201. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  The  Emperor,  154. 

Persecution  under,  172. 

Marriage  reprobated  by  Marcion,  201. 

S.  Clement's  rules  concerning, 


260. 


402. 


under  the  Romans,  325. 
a  Christian,  described,  331. 
with  Wife's  Sister  forbidden. 

Canons  concerning,  403,  41 1, 


413- 


Martyrdom,  The  duty  of,  259. 

joy  in,  383. 

Martyrs,  Hopes  and  joys  of  the,  138. 

The,  not  worshipped,  169. 

ashes  cast  into  the  Rhone,  176. 

benefits  derived  from  the  suffer- 
ings of  the,  375. 

The,  Transfigured  by  suffering, 


381- 


"Martyrs,"  ofificiousness  of  some,  338. 

Menander,  a  disciple  of  Simon  Magus, 
189. 

Methodius'  reply  to  Porphyry,  370. 

Millennium,  Judgment  of  the  Church 
on  the,  305. 

Ministiy,  Constitution  of  the  Christian, 
42. 

Minor  Orders,  convenient,  not  neces- 
sary, 49. 

Minucius  Felix,  Dialogue  of,  109. 

Missions,  St.  Paul's  Method  of,  36. 

Mixed  Chalice,  Primitive  use  of,  63. 

Monasticism,  431. 

Montanus,  The  Heresy  of,  234. 

Neo-Ccesarea,  Council  of  412. 


Nero,  The  Emperor,  81. 

Persecution  under,  77. 

Nicaea,  Council  of,  summoned  by  Con- 
stantine,  447. 

Eminent      Bishops 


present  at  it,  448. 


Hosius  of  Corduba 
said  to  have  taken  the  lead  in  it,  448. 
A  Novatian  Bishop 


invited  to  it,  449. 
mitted  to  it,  449. 


some    Laymen   ad- 


Arius  declares  his 
opinions  in  the  preliminary  confer- 
ences, 450. 

Opening  of  the  Coun- 
cil, 450. 

Constant ine  attends 


It,  450. 


Eusebius  of  Csesarea 


delivers  the  opening  address,  451. 

followed  by  Eusta- 


thius  and  the  Emperor,  451. 

-  framing  of  the  Creed, 


453,  466. 


Bishops,  466. 


subscribed    by    the 

on    the    keeping   of 

enacts    Canons    on 
Church  Disciphne,  454. 

Synodical   letter   to 


Easter,  454. 


the  Churches,  458. 

why  memorable,  459. 

Claims    of    Roman 


Papacy  disproved  by,  460- 

Facts  presented  by, 


461. 


Lessons  to  be  learnt 

from,  467. 
Noetus,  The  Patripassian,  289. 
S.  Hippolytus'  Homily  agaizist, 

297. 
Novatian,  a   Presbyter  of  the  Roman 

Church,  310. 

iDecomes  the  first  Antipope,3i  I 

Novatian  Baptism  and  Orders 

declared  to  be  valid,  317. 
Hooker  on,  32] 


Novatianism,  Rise  of,  309. 

Pleas  for,  310. 

S.  Cyprian  on,  312. 


—    Hooker  on,  321. 


Novatians,  Canons  concerning  the,  455. 


478 


INDEX. 


Novelty  and  diversity  of  Error,   246,  I  Perpetua,  S.,  Martyrdom  of,  177. 


247,  256. 
Numbers  in  Scriptm-e,  meaning  of,  6. 

Obedience  and  Submission,  375,  379. 

Oblation  in  Holy  Eucharist.  60. 

Offertory,  The  Weekly,  Primitive  Insti- 
tution of,  65,  347. 

Officials,  Christian,  their  relations  to 
heathen  Princes,  379. 

Old  Testament  (see  Testament  and 
Scriptures), 

Onesimus,  St.  Paul's  treatment  of,  333. 

Ophites,  The,   192. 

Oracles,    Porphyry's    Book    on,    36S, 

369- 
Orders  of  the  Ministry,  The  Three,  50. 
Ordination,  Presbyterian,  42,  45,  447. 
Origen,  against  Celsus,  114. 

on  Eaith  and  Philosophy,  116. 

on  Moral  and  Physical  Evil  and 

Divine  Grace,  118. 

. Theology  of,  121. 

. Defence  of  Christianity,  213. 

his  travels  and  training,  270. 

Studies  and  Ordination  of,  271. 

controversies  concerning,  272. 

life  and  writings  of,  273. 

his  system  of  teaching,  274. 

on  the  consecration  of  secular 

learning,  275. 

method  of  Scriptural  interpreta- 
tion, 276. 

allegorical  licence  of,  277. 

on  faith  and  facts,  27S. 

on  the  Logos,  278. 

on  the  Son  of  God,  279. 

on  Future  Punishment,  121,280. 

his  temper  and  hfe,  281. 

and  Tertullian,  282. 

. his  Theology  inadequate  for  the 

crisis  at  Rome,  291. 

Pantheism  and  Fatalism,  196. 
Papacy,  Novelty  of  the,  462. 
Papal  Supremacy  (see  Roman). 
Pastoral  Epistles,  St.  Paul's,  40,  42. 
Paul  of  Samosata,  heresy  of,  396,  398. 
Paul's,  St.,  Method  of  Missions,  36. 


Plan  of  Epistles,  37. 
Martyrdom  of,  79. 


Persecution  first  from  the  Jews,  70. 
and  its  fruits,  87. 
under  "Good  Emperors,' 


moral  reason  for,  339. 

General,  Edict  for  a,  356. 

Benefits  from,  375,  380,464. 

Persecutions  under  Nero,  77. 
Fomitian,  82. 

Trajan,  123. 

Marcus       Aurelius, 


—  Septimius    Severus, 

Maxim inus,  353. 
F^ecius,  354,  382.  ^ 
Valerian,  316,    34S, 

Diocletian,  356,  363, 

Aurelian,  401. 
ary    of,     from    A.D. 
I  So  to  Council  of  Niccea,  352, 

in  Gaul,  171. 

Pestilence,  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  on 

a,  343- 
Peter,    St.,  his  plan  of  preaching,  35. 
Martyrdom  of,  79. 

Martyrdom  of  his  wife,  79. 

Second  Epistle. Genuineness 

of,  189. 

Philosophy,  Moral  failure  of,  18. 
• The  genuine  and  false  con- 
trasted, 261. 

Imperfection     of    Gentile 


154, 

171. 

177, 

352. 

351. 

355- 

376. 

Pausanias,  27. 
Pentecost,  The  Church  built  up  at,  7, 
463- 


systems  of,  274. 
Plagues  and  Pestilences,  uses  of,  340. 
Pleroma  of  yEons,  205. 
Pliny  the  Elder,  22. 
the  Younger,  Letters  to  Trajan, 

122,  325. 
Plutarch's  searchings  after   truth,    27, 

28. 
Polybius,  19. 

Polycarp,  S.,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  157. 
his    Epistle    to    the   Phi- 

lippians,  15-^. 
— collects  the  Epistles  of  S. 

Ignatius,  159. 

Episcopate  of,  160. 

Martyrdom  of,  161,  382. 

in  Prayer,  165. 

before  the  Proconsul,  166. 


INDEX. 


479 


Polycarp,  S.,his  Birthday,  170. 
Polygamy,     not     encouraged     by    the 

Greeks  and  Romans,  326. 
Pontius,  Deacon  and  Biographer  of  S. 

Cyprian,  345. 
Porphyry,  366. 
on    Scripture — on  Oracles, 

369 


Christianity,  370. 

Practical  refutations  of,  371. 

Pothinus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  Martyrdom 

of,  174. 
Praxeas,  The  Patripassian,  290. 
Prayer  and  Praise,  S.  Clement's  Hymn 

of,  254. 
Presbyter,  sometimes  called  Episcopus, 

46. 
Also    a    Bishop    sometimes 

called  Presbyter,  47,  48. 
Presbyterian  Ordinations,  42,  45,  447. 
Priesthood,  Foundation  of  the,  48. 
Priests,  Christian,   Canons  concerning, 

403,  411,  412. 
Primacy    coupled   with     Consultation, 

47- 

Private  Judgment,  ^Vbuse  of,  by  Here- 
tics, 256. 

Probation,  Man's  Moral,  32. 

Prophets,  Faith  of  the,  231. 

Provinces,  Ecclesiastical,  and  Patriar- 
chates, 50. 

Prudentius,  Hymns  of,  306,  312. 

Puritans,  Hooker's  Reply  to  the,  320. 

Quinisext  Council  (Council  in  Trullo), 

416. 
Quintilian,  23. 

Real  Presence,   in   Holy  Communion, 

Redemption  and  Matter,  Gnostic  no- 
tions of,  185. 

Reformation,  Where  was  the  Anglican 
Church  before  the  ?  319. 

Resurrection,  Christ's  Acts  and  Sayings 
after  His,  4. 

—  (see  also  Body,  Resurrec- 
tion of  the). 

Retrospect  and  Reflections,  364. 

Rewards    and    Punishments,     Future, 

153- 

Rings,  Christian,  described  by  S.  Cel- 

ment,  332. 
Ritual,  Advantages  of  variety  in,  418. 


Rock  of  the  Church,  2,  7. 
Roman  Empire,      Why  the  Christians 
prayed  for  it,  99 

Religion,  Failure  of  the,  21. 


Roads  preparations  for  Chris- 
tianity, 15,  447. 

Supremacy,  S.  Cyprian  on  the, 

316. 

not  recognized  by 

Tertullian,  248, 


nor    by    Primitive 
Catholic  Church,  85,  142,  388,  406. 

disproved  by  Coun- 
cil of  Nicrea,  460. 

Rome,  Church  of,   S.    Iren£eus'  Refer- 
ence to,  224  (see  note). 

Council  of,  405. 

Appeal  from,    to  Constantine, 

407. 

Dogm.itic  dilemma  at,  2S8. 

Lack  of  'J'heological  Science  at, 

290. 

Recovery   of  Church   of,    from 


heresy,  306. 
Succession      of 

Church  of,  224. 
Rule  of  P'aith  (see  Creed). 


Bishopj 


Sabbath,  The  weekly,  a  preparation  for 

Christianity,  14. 
Sabellianism,  Rise  of,  303. 
Sacraments,  The  Chri.-^tian.  51. 

Necessity  of  the,  52. 

Types  of  the,  54. 

Doctrine  of  the,  imperilled 

by  Arianism,  429. 
Sacrifice,  The  Eucharistic,  59,  229. 
Samosata,  Paul  of,  the  Socinus  of  the 

third  century,  396,  39S. 

condemned  by  the  Council  of 


Antioch,  400. 
Sanctus,a  DeaconofVienne,  Martyrdom 

of,  173,  3S2. 
Satan  tempts  men  to  worship  him,  192. 
Saturninus,  a  lollower  of  Simon  Magus, 

194. 
Scaliger,  Joseph,  on  records  of  Martyr- 
dom, 381. 
Schism,   Wilful,  declared  sinful  by  S. 

Irenneus,  227. 
Science  and  Philosophy,  to  be  pressed 

into  the  service  of  the  Church,  274. 
Scripture,  HoIy.Marcion's  criticisms  on, 

200. 


480 


INDEX. 


Scripture,  Holy,  The  Church  the  True 

Interpreter  of,  230,  243. 
• garbled   by    Heretics, 

244,  257,  293. 
Tertullian  on  appeals 

to,  243. 


—  Origen  on,  275. 

■ S.    Augustine,    as    an 

expositor  of,  275  (see  note). 

—    Inspiration      of,      an 

Article  of  Faith,  364. 

Secular  Power,  Obedience  to  the,  taught 
by  Christianity,  375,  379.  _ 

Secundus,  an  adherent  of  Arius,  459. 

"Seek  and  ye  shall  find,"  not  to  be 
applied  to  Articles  of  Faith,  240. 

Septuagint,  Origin  of  the,  15. 

Serpent  Worship,  encouraged  by  the 
Gnostics,  193. 

Sethiani,  The,  193. 

Sick,  Care  of  the,  by  Christians,  334. 

Treatise  of  S.  Cy- 
prian on,  335. 

Siloam,  Pool  of,  Typical  of  Baptism,  53. 

Simon  Magus,  The  Gnostic,  187. 

Sin,  Deadly,  327. 

Slavery,  333. 

Slaves,  Christian  regard  for,  334. 

Society,  Attempts  of  Julius  and  Augus- 
tus to  reform,  326. 

How    Christianity   undertook 

to  reform  it,  330. 

Soldiers, Christian,  Martyrdoms  of,  376. 

Spiritualism  condemned  as  Montanism, 
236. 

Stephen,  Bishop  of  Rome,  Acts  of,  315. 

Stoic,  Portrait  of  the,  154. 

Stoicism  fatal  to  faith,  17. 

Submission  and  Obedience,  375,  379. 

Succession  (see  Apostolic). 

Suffering,  The  glory  of,  102. 

Sunday,  Primitive  observance  of,  62, 
64,  152,  404. 

Superiors,  Duties  to  Heathen,  379. 

Supremacy,  Roman,  not  acknowledged 
by  the  Catholic  Church,  248  (see 
note),  316  (and  see  Roman). 

Symeon,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  Martyr- 
dom of,  126. 

Tacitus,  22. 

Tatian,  The  Gnostic,  197. 

'  'Teacher's  error,  the  people's  trial,  "317. 

Tertullian  on  Baptism,  55. 


Tertullian,  Address  to  the  Jews,  74. 

Apology  of,  93. 

on  Christian  Evidences,  96. 

"ad  Scapulam,"  103. 

- on  Trajan's  rescript,  125. 

becomes  a  Montanist,  235. 

Writings  of,  237. 

Creed  of,  241, 

on  appeals  to  Holy  Scripture, 

243- 

on  the  Essence  of  truth  and 

error,  246. 
Appeal  to  Apostolic  Churches, 

248. 

on  religious  divisions,  250. 

• and  Origen  compared,  280. 

Testament,  Old,  Christianity  in  the,  72, 

464. 

Marcion  on  the,  201. 

Typical    character   of, 


276, 

New,  Marcion  on  the,  201. 

Testaments,  One  God  in  both,  224. 
Thaumaturgy,  28. 
Theodotus,  Errors  of,  288. 
Theonas,  an  adherent  of  Arius,  459, 
Therapeutae,  Communities  of  the,  31. 
Timothy,  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  42. 
Titus,  Bishop  of  Crete,  42. 
Toleration,  Edicts  of,  357,  361. 
Tradition,  uncertainty  of  Oral,  222. 

■ Apostolic.  224, 

Traditores,  origin  of  term,  365,  409. 

elect  a  Bishop  to  Cirtha,40l. 

Trajan,  Column  of,  88,  126. 

is  consulted  by  Pliny,  122. 

Rescript  of,  124. 

Ignatius  is  brought  before,  127. 

Transubstantiation,     Doctrine    of,   un- 
known to  the  Fathers,  61. 

Trullo,  Council  in,  416. 

Truth,  Unity  and  permanence  of  the,  245. 

What  is  the  essence  of?  246. 

Priority  of,  247. 

Assaults  against  the,  overruled 


for  good,  Pref.  p.  xii,  xiii.  Chaps,  vii., 
viii.,  xxvi. 
Trypho,    Dialogue    of   Justin    Martyr 
with,  155. 

Unitarianism,  Two  forms  of,  at  Rome, 
289. 

Homilies  of  S.   Hippo- 


lytus  against,  297,  301. 


INDEX. 


481 


Unity  and   Antiquity   the   Essence    of  ,  Virgil,  24. 

Truth,  246.  i  Visitations,     Uses 
Church,  S.  Ignatius  on,  133.  \      Divine,  340. 


to    be     made     of 


Valentinianism,  210, 

described    by    S. 

n?eus,  216. 


i  Wife's  Sister,  Marriage  with  deceased, 

I      forbidden  by  Council  of  Elvira,  403. 

■  Womanhood,    Condition  of,  in  Greece 

S.  Cle-  !      and  at  Rome,  21,  327. 


Ire- 


nient,  258. 
Valentinus,  System  of,  203,  208. 

on  Christianity,  207. 

Valerius,  Bishop  of  Saragossa,  402, 

Varro,  19,  22. 

Vatican   Council,    not  a  General  one. 

392. 
Vices  consecrated  by  Heathenism,  328. 
Vincentius  Lirinensis  on  Tertullian  and 

Origen,  282. 


World's,  The,  needs  and  longings,  31. 
Worship,  Holy  Communion  an  essen- 
tial part  of  Christian,  65. 

Xystus,  Bishop  of  Rome,  316. 

Zenobia,    Queen,   favours  Paul  of  Sa- 

mosata,  399,  401. 
Zephyrinus,    Bishop     of   Rome,     286, 

287,  290,  291,  306. 


THE  END. 


GILBERT  AND    RIVING'J  ON,    PRINTERS,    ST, 


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